John Quincy Adams
Born: July 11, 1767
Died: February 23, 1848
Term in Office: 1825-1829
In looking for portrait references for this guy, the first son of a president to become president himself, I was struck by the notion that this guy would have made the perfect image of Dickens' Scrooge... at least in the photos taken of this guy in his later life.
Friend G"W"T tells me that this Adams was the first president to photographed, though I've not corroborated this bit of trivia.
Among other tidbits for this dude: he started a diary at the age of 13 and kept it up throughout his life, declaring at one point that "next to the Holy Scriptures (it could be considered) the most precious and valuable book ever written by human hands." Powerful stuff, I guess.
The election of 1824, which pitted him against Andrew Jackson, was the only presidential election to be decided by the House of Representatives, as neither candidate had the majority of electoral votes.
If you had been around D.C. in the 1820s and happened to take a morning stroll along the banks of the Potomac, you might have been treated to a view of the skinny-dipping sixth president taking his daily swim au-natural.
He installed a pool table in the White House. His critics claimed that the pool table showed his aristocratic tendencies and worried that it would promote gambling. ("Trouble... starts with 'T' which rhymes with 'P', and that stands for 'pool!'")
Adams kept a pet alligator in a White House bathtub. Makes one wonder, had there been a Secret Service in the 1820s, what sort of mayhem might have resulted, considering the problems President Biden's dog Major has gotten into biting a couple of agents in altercations.
Peace to all, and don't go skinny-dipping in gator-infested waters.
Thanks to www.mentalfloss.com for info on John Quincy
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