Episode 961: Bob Crawford on John Quincy Adams
Newt's World
Gingrich 360
4.6 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 29 March 2026
⏱️ 47 minutes
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Summary
Newt talks with Bob Crawford, Grammy-nominated bassist for The Avett Brothers, and author of, “America’s Founding Son: John Quincy Adams, from President to Political Maverick.” They discuss the life and legacy of John Quincy Adams, emphasizing his role as a statesman whose career spanned diplomacy, the presidency, and 17 years in Congress after leaving the White House. They highlight his upbringing in the extraordinary Adams family, including the intellectual influence of his mother Abigail Adams and his early witness to the Battle of Bunker Hill. They discuss his achievements as a leading diplomat and Secretary of State, his controversial one-term presidency marked by the “corrupt bargain” election of 1824 and fierce populist opposition from Andrew Jackson, and his later transformation into a congressional maverick who defied his party and the pro-slavery bloc. They also discuss his Supreme Court victory in the Amistad case, where he secured freedom for enslaved Africans by appealing to due process and the principles of the Declaration of Independence, a moment portrayed as his personal and public redemption. His lifelong habit of keeping a massive diary—about 14,000 pages from youth to age 80—now digitized and publicly accessible, is presented as an invaluable resource for understanding early American politics and his personal life.
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.5 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:08.0 | Welcome to Newtsworld Podcast on the IHeart Podcast Network. |
| 0:12.7 | When I think about John Adams and John Quincy Adams, one of the most amazing families in the founding period of America, and I think about all that they saw, the dream of the most amazing families in the founding period of America. |
| 0:22.2 | And I think about all that they saw, the dream they had for America, the fact that they both |
| 0:28.0 | dedicated their lives, as did John's wife, Abigail, who's probably the most famous woman |
| 0:34.6 | in the period of the founding of the country. |
| 0:38.6 | Martha Washington, of course, |
| 0:44.3 | was extraordinarily famous because she was George's wife. But Abigail Adams was a real intellectual. |
| 0:51.5 | She was really involved. She had strong feelings and strong thoughts. And she raised John Quincy Adams. |
| 0:56.9 | In fact, it's amazing that he and she, he was 11 years old, |
| 1:02.4 | and he was in Boston at the key moment at the Battle of Bunker Hill. |
| 1:05.8 | So you have this sort of amazing family. |
| 1:28.3 | But I thought to myself, as we were talking about John Quincy Adams and his really remarkable career, probably we would not have gotten, may not have gotten. The Smithsonian Institution approved. James Smithson had left $500,000 to the U.S. to create a national museum. But at the time, there was a lot of political pressure. |
| 1:31.3 | First of all, he was British. |
| 1:33.3 | Second, there were a large number of populist members |
| 1:36.3 | who thought, why do we want to tackle a museum? |
| 1:39.3 | And once we accept this money, |
| 1:41.3 | how much more is it going to cost us to maintain it? |
| 1:46.7 | It was a pretty controversial moment. |
| 1:57.0 | And John Quincy Adams, the only president to go back and serve in the House after he lost his re-election campaign, |
| 2:03.1 | Adams stood up and gradually carefully negotiated and got the Smithsonian approved. |
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