Nicole Smith
After an enlightened career as a diplomat and secretary of state, John Quincy Adams’ presidency was relatively unsuccessful. His presidency was handicapped because he assumed the office under controversy in 1824 and attempted to govern without a mandate. Perhaps exacerbating the schisms that led to the divisive election, Adams immediately proposed an extensive, radical agenda of internal improvements that were subsequently blocked by Congress, highlighting that he would not have the benefit of governing with a united Congress and that his policies did not have the support of the legislature. Accordingly, in 1828 Adams could not run on the limited success of his presidency.
In the absence of touting his policies – I briefly toyed with the idea of lauding his work on the Monroe Doctrine and Treaty of Ghent – I decided to focus on Adams’ presidential persona – that is, on his likeness to the old guard of independent, enlightened leaders. This idea began with the concept that Adams did not relish in campaigning for himself. Adams’ supporters certainly took up this role for him, publicly destroying Andrew Jackson while attempting to attract popular support for Adams. To this end, the opening scene couches the entire advertisement as a campaign in support of, but not directly sponsored by, Adams. I found an article summarizing a resolution passed at a “meeting of the friends of John Quincy Adams in Harford County, Md.” published in The Baltimore Patriot & Mercantile Advertiser on March 27, 1824. The article makes several claims in support of Adams and also likens him to the old guard of presidents, including Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. I visually reinforced this statement with portraits of the former presidents in succession followed by a portrait of Quincy Adams. (image credits: George Washington, Gilbert Stuart after 1796; John Adams, Jane C. Stuart 1800; A Portrait of Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State, Charles Wilson Peale 1791; James Madison, John Vanderlyn 1816; James Monroe, L.L.D., President of the United States, C.B. King 1817; John Quincy Adams, John Singleton Copley 1795) The final portrait of Adams contains a quote from the same article, emphasizing his worthiness for the office due to an illustrious and extensive career in American politics.
This premise seems particularly useful in contrasting the blatant partisanship and unrefined nature of Andrew Jackson. This sequence established Adams as a man of the civilized breed that had been leading the country since its founding and had produced the Era of Good Feelings, to which Adams desperately desired to attach his presidency.
I then presented the same portrait of Adams with a quote from his first inaugural address, attempting to dispel the myth of a “corrupt bargain.” While Adams’ presidency did not successfully destroy the bitter partisanship that led to his election, Adams, himself reared in the early republican atmosphere of disinterested politics, attempted not to be a party man. This quote shows his desire to unite the country, rather than dividing it as Jackson, who began his campaign for 1828 immediately after losing in 1824, clearly intended.
Next, I used a copy of a political cartoon titled “A Foot-Race” from 1824 by David Claypoole Johnston. (image source:http://www.ucl.ac.uk/USHistory/Building/Images/1824b.jpg) This cartoon reveals the dissention of the election of 1824. The iMovie technique, I used, a zoom out from the cartoon, serves to draw you away from the cartoon and its controversy (but not after a view of Andrew Jackson in the center of the melee), indicating that Adams has brought the electorate to a less divided, partisan nation than existed in 1824. The zoom out leads to a new slide that focuses on a quote from Adams on January 28, 1802 that declares his intention to represent the whole nation, to unite a sorely divided country under one president. We then travel up to the portrait, mimicking the idea that one should look up to the honorable Adams. (image credit: John Quincy Adams, Gilbert Stuart, 1818)
The video ends with a message from the Harford County group I imagine might have published this. It is yet another section from the article publishing the opinions of the Harford County Friends of John Quincy Adams, indicating that Adams’ qualities as an enlightened statesmen and independent politician make him appropriately suited for the presidency. The final message again attributes the message to the Harford County group, pointing to Adams role as a classical American leader who would not have campaigned for himself.
The song in the background is a rendition of “Amazing Grace” on a dulcimer. I wanted to contrast what I expect will be a fiery Andrew Jackson campaign that will likely use war drums and shock and awe with a more gentle song, allowing Adams to establish that he is a peaceful candidate for peaceful times. The song is retrospectively fitting because Adams would become instrumental in abolishing the gag rule in Congress, and “Amazing Grace” was a song written about slavery and the promise of redemption despite the sin of slavery.