John Quincy Adams, the fifth President of the United States, was one of the greatest men this country has yet produced. Repellant manners injured his usefulness and obscured the luster of his great name. It is said he could grant a request and thereby lose a friend, while Clay could say "No" so kindly as to win a friend.
The life of Louisa Catherine Adams, wife of John Quincy Adams, is one of surprising interest. She was the daughter of Joshua Johnson, of Maryland, was educated and married in London, accompanied her husband to the many different courts to which he was minister, and brought to the White House a larger social experience than any of her predecessors.
She reestablished the stately ceremonials of the Washington period, which greatly resembled the customs of the English Court. Among the great men who frequented her levees were Webster, Clay, Calhoun, and Andrew Jackson (the latter always in buff pants and vest with blue broadcloth coat and gilt buttons).
Then came strenuous Andrew Jackson as President, with only the memory of his beloved Rachel, who had passed away before he became Chief Magistrate. She had been buried in the beautiful dress prepared for her husband's inauguration. A private letter yet extant gives this picture of the days when Emily Donelson (wife of the President's nephew) was the chief lady of the land:
"The large parlor was scantily furnished; there was light from the chandelier, and a blazing fire in the grate; four or five ladies sewing around it; Mrs. Donelson, Mrs. Andrew Jackson, Jr., Mrs. Edward Livingston, and others. Five or six children were playing about, regardless of documents or work-baskets. At the farther end of the room sat the President in an arm-chair, wearing a loose coat, and smoking a long reed pipe, with bowl of red clay—combining the dignity of the patriarch, monarch, and Indian chief. Just behind him was Edward Livingstone, the Secretary of State, reading a despatch from the French Minister for Foreign Affairs. The ladies glance admiringly now and then at the President, who listens, waving his pipe toward the children when they become too boisterous."
Jefferson, Jackson, Van Buren, Tyler, and Arthur were widowers when they entered the White House.
Van Buren was the Talleyrand of American politics. Secretary of State under Jackson, he had won the heart of his chief, whose influence secured him the Presidency. His son's wife, Angelica Singleton Van Buren, gracefully conducted the ceremonies of the White House during the Van Buren administration.
General William Henry Harrison became President in 1841. His wife never came to Washington. He died one month after his inauguration. It was declared that he was worried to death by the fierce office-seekers of the time. His was the first funeral from the White House.
John Tyler, who succeeded Harrison, was a polished, cultured gentleman from Virginia. His was the literary period, when Washington Irving, Edward Everett, and John Howard Payne received foreign appointments.
His first wife, Letitia Christian Tyler, made her first public appearance at the White House at the marriage of her daughter. She died in 1842. Eight months before Tyler's term expired he was married to Miss Julia Gardner, of New York. The festivities of the time began with her wedding reception, and lasted till the end of that administration.