Photo: Mike Macklin/WBZ NewsRadio
QUINCY, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The life and legacy of John Quincy Adams is now immortalized in bronze in the new John Quincy Adams Park thanks to the City of Quincy.
Adams served as Secretary of State, President, then as a Congressman. Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch says John Quincy Adams was much like his father John Adams, the nation's second president. He is also remembered as one of the most outspoken anti-slavery advocates of his time.
"He was brilliant, he was devoted, dedicated, a rare individual, and a man of principle," Koch said. "Him and his father both did not get re-elected because they were so principled they went against their party on certain issues and they were thrown out. So this partisanship stuff goes way back, not just today, but they stood above it."
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Adams is said to be remembered by his colleagues as old man eloquent, a respected statesman for the ages. Born in 1767, eight years before the outbreak of the American Revolution, Adams served in public life for a half century as a diplomat under President George Washington, Secretary of State under President James Monroe, and as the nation's sixth president. At the dedication of Adams' statue, Congressman Stephen Lynch spoke of Adams' deep connection to the community of his birth.
"This community helped shape him into one of the most principles and accomplished public servants in American history," Lynch said. This park and this statue will hopefully serve as an inspiration to future generations."
WBZ NewsRadio’s Mike Macklin reports.