john quincy adams
Before he was president, John Quincy Adams was basically the Forrest Gump of early America—teen diplomat during the Revolution, fluent in eight languages, rubbing elbows with czars, and ghostwriting major treaties before most people grow a mustache. As Secretary of State, he basically was U.S. foreign policy, crafting the Monroe Doctrine (yeah, that one) and paving the way for a new global era.
Then came the presidency—and it sucked. Congress hated him, his own party bailed, and he spent four miserable years trying to push bold ideas like national infrastructure, public education, and an observatory while getting stonewalled by professional haters. But did he sell out? Nope. He doubled down on integrity and made everyone uncomfortable by saying things like, “Maybe slavery’s not cool, actually?”
And just when most ex-presidents would peace out to a life of rich-man leisure, JQA grabbed a seat in Congress and went full firebrand. For 17 years, he obliterated the pro-slavery status quo, slamming the gag rule with thousands of anti-slavery petitions (yes, some fake, just for chaos), and torched the Supreme Court with his legendary Amistad case argument at the age of 73.
John Quincy Adams wasn’t a flashy populist. He was a moral wrecking ball who weaponized brains, ethics, and relentless energy to fight systemic evil. If you're into founding-era receipts, principled trolling, and watching a guy absolutely refuse to coast on his resume—this is your series.
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John Quincy Adams: fluent in diplomacy, allergic to BS, and way too smart for the room. In this episode, we kick off our JQA series with a look at the man who basically wrote American foreign policy, got wrecked by Congress during his presidency, and came back swinging as the “Madman from Massachusetts.” Eric’s basically doing a séance from Quincy City Hall, Kyle’s trying to keep things on track, and somewhere in the background, a naked JQA is swimming in the Potomac, judging us all. Come for the anti-slavery fury, stay for the intellectual mic drops—this one’s got heat.
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Get ready for a wild ride, because John Quincy Adams was slaying the diplomatic scene as a kid long before his presidency fizzled out—talk about a glow-up and a letdown! Before John Quincy Adams became the sixth (and reluctantly remembered) president of the United States, he was a teenage diplomat, language nerd, and full-time overachiever. In this episode, Kyle and Eric pull back the powdered curtain on America’s most overachieving 12-year-old turned underwhelming president.
We’re talking:
💉 Early smallpox inoculations courtesy of his science-loving mama, Abigail
🌍 Teenage diplomatic missions across Europe (yeah, at fourteen)
🏛️ Turning down a Supreme Court seat because it sounded... boring
🏊♂️ Alleged skinny-dipping habits that honestly track
While his presidency may have been a snooze, JQA’s early years were a whole damn international incident. And if you've ever wondered what it’s like to grow up fluent in French, journaling everything, and rubbing elbows with Ben Franklin, this episode serves it up—sassy, sharp, and with zero apologies.
👉 Tune in now for highbrow history served with low-key chaos.
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Clear your schedule and cancel your plans—this episode of The Buck Starts Here is a full-on presidential rollercoaster. We’re finally diving into the actual presidency of John Quincy Adams, and spoiler alert: the man was decades ahead of his time. Civil War? Predicted it. National infrastructure? Proposed it. Astronomical observatories? He was out here pitching NASA before telescopes were cute.
Eric makes the case for JQA as the GOAT with unapologetic conviction, and honestly? He’s got receipts. From national universities to the Department of the Interior (before it was even a thing), Quincy had the vision—Congress just didn’t have the vibes.
Also on deck: free branded journals, a fierce showdown with Georgia’s militia, and the eternal truth that if your house has a name, you’re not exactly winning points for humility.
So grab your journal (or email us to snag one), pour yourself something patriotic,, and get ready to laugh, learn, and maybe rethink your opinion of JQA.
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Okay folks, let’s set the scene: it’s 1824, four guys are running for president, nobody wins the Electoral College, and Andrew Jackson—America’s grumpiest rage potato—loses his damn mind. That’s right, in this scandalously misnamed episode of American history, we’re breaking down the so-called “Corrupt Bargain”… which, spoiler alert: was neither corrupt nor a bargain.
Join us as we throw some serious side-eye at Jackson’s meltdown, dig into the drama of Henry Clay being too qualified and too moral for his own good, and watch John Quincy Adams quietly walk away with the W—because doing your homework and not owning people should count for something.
Eric’s blood pressure spikes, Kyle tries to keep him from combusting, and together we ask the real questions: Can you be the most qualified human ever and still lose to an angry populist? (Yes.) Can Clay write a public takedown letter so good James Madison called it “eloquent”? (Also yes.) And can we finally put some damn respect on JQA’s name? (Hell. Yes.)
🎙️ Featuring:
A House vote that actually followed the Constitution (wild, we know)
Henry Clay refusing to play dirty and still getting dragged
Andrew Jackson inventing the political tantrum
James Buchanan already being the worst
This ain’t your high school history class—it’s messy, it’s petty, it’s painfully relevant, and it’s the season finale you didn’t know you needed.