Pulitzer Prize Biography Winner
John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy
by Samuel Flagg Bemis
Summary
Samuel Flagg Bemis studies John Quincy Adams chiefly as a diplomat and secretary of state, the architect behind enduring principles of American foreign relations. The book details Adams's negotiations, his role in shaping the Monroe Doctrine, and his expansion of the nation's boundaries. Bemis grounds his portrait in extensive use of Adams's own diaries and the diplomatic record.
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Historical Context & Significance
Bemis later won a second Pulitzer Prize for Biography for his sequel volume on Adams, completing a two part study of his subject.