The Old House above was John & Abigail Adams’ dream house where they raised their son, John Quincy Adams, and where future generations of Adams would live, garden, read, write and serve our country. The Adams were all educated well-beyond American standards. John felt that we suffer due to our fear of thinking, and that we must “dare to read, think, speak and write”. The larger quote hints at their high ethical standards as well. John defended the British officers involved in the Boston Massacre, because no matter how anti-British he was, he knew they deserved a proper legal defense (most were acquitted).

I hope folks are familiar with John & Abigail through various movies and series related to the Continental Congress, but his negotiations with Europe were also critical to our fledgling country, as was his Presidency. But I suspect few remember our 6th President, John Quincy Adams. He was criticized for supporting the opposition party’s embargo of Britain which hurt the financial interests of Massachusetts, for supporting infrastructure & education investments, supporting science, for refusing to sign fraudulent treaties stealing Native American land, for defending the slaves who escaped on the Amistad, and for trying to legislate the end of slavery. Like his father, he believed that country was more important than state or party, fearing that states’ rights folk would tear the country apart. While protesting the Mexican American War, he had a stroke and died in the US Capitol.

America has a problem with voters who will elect bad people to achieve selfish or immoral goals. While an individual might not steal Native American land, hold someone in bondage or pollute, there’s a moral dilution that occurs when electing a leader. The leader can simply say they are responding to the will of the people, and the people can elect the person who will commit evil on their behalf, without having to get their own hands dirty. Back in John Quincy Adams’ day it was Andrew Jackson, then pro-slavery leaders, and today one party is committed to taking no action on climate change and taking the country backwards in women’s rights & voting rights, among other issues. Electing a leader for intellect and morality who will do the right thing for the long run even when unpopular seems an impossible, quaint, bygone concept.