President John Quincy Adams and His Times Quiz

Answer: Serve in the House of Representatives after completing his presidential term.

Adams was elected to the House of Representatives in 1830 as a member of the Anti-Mason Party two years after completing his term as president. He served in the House of Representatives until his death on March 23 1848.

Answer: The only foreign-born "First Lady" who raised silkworms in the White House.

Louisa Catherine Adams was born in London on February 12 1775 and died in Washington DC on May 15 1852. She married John Quincy Adams on July 26 1797 in London.

John Quincy Adams Diary Entry June 23 1828 "Mrs. Adams is winding silk from several hundred silkworms she has been rearing...."

Of her years in the White House, she wrote: "There is something in this great unsocial house which depresses my spirits beyond expression and makes it impossible for me to feel at home or to fancy that I have a home any where."

Answer: Andrew Jackson

Because none of the 4 candidates (Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay and William Crawford) received an electoral vote majority, by virtue of the Twelfth Amendment the election was thrown into the House of Representatives from among the three highest recipients of electoral votes (Jackson, Adams and Crawford) - leaving Henry Clay completely outside the election.

Given his rivalry with Andrew Jackson and due to the illness of Crawford, Henry Clay saw the "American System" positions of Adams as most resembling his own. He threw his support in the House of Representatives to Adams.

When Adams named Clay as his Secretary of State (from which position the previous 3 presidents had been elected), the Jacksonian opposition accused Adams and Clay of a "corrupt bargain" and effectively began the presidential campaign of 1828 and the effort to remove Adams as president in the succeeding election.

Answer: The US Constitution

A deeply religious man, Adams thought the bible should be used only for religious purposes and refused to employ it as the instrument upon which to take a political oath.

Answer: Swimming naked in the Potomac River.

Adams followed a rigorous physical regimen throughout his life. He reportedly awoke daily at 5:00AM (4:15 in the summer) to begin his routine.

His diary entry of June 13 1825 records an almost accidental drowning during one of his daily swims:

"The reasons upon which I justify to myself my daily swimming in the river do not apply to this adventure [the near-drowning incident earlier that day]. Among my motives for swimming, that of showing what I can do must be discarded as spurious, and I must strictly confine myself to the purposes of health, exercise, and salutary labor."

Answer: Joel R. Poinsett

Because of his ability to speak Spanish, Poinsett was assigned diplomatic missions in Latin America as early as 1810. His tenure in Mexico was marked by unauthorized and disastrous interference in York and Scottish Rite Masonic rivalries as well as internal Mexican politics. He later served as Secretary of War in the Van Buren administration (1837-1841).

As an amateur botanist, he discovered the "Euphorbia pulcherrima" growing wild in the southern states of Mexico. He sent samples of the plant back to the United States where the Christmas display of the "Poinsettia" has grown into a seasonal tradition.

Answer: The Mendi Bible.

The "Mendi Bible" was given to Adams along with a letter of thanks on November 6 1841:

"To the Honorable John Quincy Adams: Most Respected Sir, The Mendi people give you thanks for all your kindness to them. They will never forget your defense of their rights before the great Court at Washington. They feel that they owe to you, in a large measure, their deliverance from the Spaniards, and from slavery or death. They will pray for you as long as you live, Mr. Adams. May God bless and reward you! We are about to go home to Africa. We go to Sierra Leone first, and then we reach Mendi very quick. When we get to Mendi we will tell the people of your great kindness. Good missionary will go with us. We shall take the Bible with us. It has been a precious book in prison, and we love to read it now we are free! Mr. Adams, we want to make you a present of a beautiful Bible! Will you please to accept it, and when you look at it or read it, remember your poor and grateful clients?... For the Mendi people. Cinque, Kinna, Kale."

The first African-American governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, used the Mendi Bible to take his oath of office on January 4, 2007.

Answer: Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln served one term in the House of Representatives (December 6 1847 to March 4 1849).

The House Committee of Arrangements for the funeral of John Quincy Adams on March 24 1848 announced that the procession would comprise a Representative from each state or territory, including freshman Congressman Abraham Lincoln.

Adams also served with Andrew Johnson during the same Congress.

Answer: In the Speakers Room of the House of Representatives.

On February 21 1848, Adams collapsed from a stroke on the floor of the House of Representatives Chamber. He was carried to the Speaker's Room where he died two days later on February 23 1848.

Answer: The right to tether and graze a cow in Harvard Yard.

The legend that the Boylston Professor has the right to tether and graze a cow in Harvard Yard is shaky at best. Nonetheless a figure no less "authoritative" than George Plimpton records the legend in his iconic sports essay "Medora Goes To The Game."