John Quincy Adams Dies in Congress

Former President, now Congressman, Collapses After Vote

Jan 16, 2008

John Quincy Adams, the only President elected to the House of Representatives after his Presidency, participates in a controversial vote, then collapses and dies.

John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the United States, died in the House of Representatives, just after giving his last voice vote.

After his Presidency, he was the only President to serve in Congress, elected to the House of Representatives. That he was more successful as a Congressman than a President, and that he died in the act of participating in a controversial vote, was one of the many twists of a long career in public service.

Until President George W. Bush was elected, John Quincy Adams had been the only son of a President himself to be elected to the Presidency. Adams began as a diplomat who served overseas, then was voted to the Massachusetts Legislature, and the U.S. Senate.

He was Secretary of State under President Monroe when the US secured Florida from Spain, and he took part in outlining the Monroe Doctrine. He was one of our most scholarly Presidents, but intense party rivalry, and his own coldness of manner, made him many enemies.

Vocal and contentious in his call for the abolition of slavery, he fought a Congressional “gag rule” on petitions for abolition, referred to also as the “Pinckney gag” after Representative Henry L. Pinckney, and finally won to have it repealed. Another issue on which he was most combative was his opposition to the Mexican War.

It was on this issue about the Mexican War that John Quincy Adams’ final vote in Congress was cast. There were many others, including Congressman Abraham Lincoln, also opposed to the war, but few elected officials dared to speak against it. Lincoln was called “the Benedict Arnold of our district” at home in Illinois for doing so. John Quincy Adams voted “no” in 1848 when a measure was called that commended veterans of recent battles to that still ongoing war.

The clerk began to read a tribute to the Mexican War soldiers, and as Adams tried to rise to address the speaker, he collapsed, and was caught by colleagues before he hit the floor. Removed to the Speaker’s private chamber, he lingered in semi-consciousness in the Capitol for two days, and died February 23, 1848.

News was carried around the country by the new telegraph. Adams had recovered from a stroke only two years earlier. He had served in the House since 1831.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican War, was reluctantly submitted by President James Knox Polk on February 22nd. Those opposed to the war, while pleased to see its conclusion, disapproved of taking over any Mexican territory as a result, but many in Congress who backed the war were disappointed that not enough territory was taken. Without agreement, it was questionable that the treaty would be ratified.

John Quincy Adams was unable to vote for the treaty, but his passing meant that Congress took a recess for the somber funeral protocol. By the time Congress resumed on the 28th of February, a greater desire of ending our participation in the war prevailed, and by the following month, the treaty was ratified.

The President who died while in office as a Congressman, John Quincy Adams is buried in the family vault, along with his parents, 2nd President of the United States John Adams and his wife, Abigail. When his widow died, Louisa Adams placed there as well, and this crypt at the United First Parish Church in Quincy, Massachusetts is the only resting place of two US Presidents and two First Ladies.

Faragher, John Mack, Gen’l Editor. The American Heritage Encyclopedia of American

The copyright of the article John Quincy Adams Dies in Congress in American History is owned by Jacqueline T Lynch. Permission to republish John Quincy Adams Dies in Congress in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.