AHC: John Quincy Adams - One of the Greats

I have a soft spot for John Quincy Adams. Although the general public think of him, when they think of him at all, as a grumpy, irritable, one term President and the son of John Adams, I've always thought there was a lot more there. Certainly everything they say is true, and I'd be the last person to deny it, but many of the policies he fought for, and lost, as President were ground breaking; a national univeristy system? Wow. He seemed to take much of Henry Clay's American Plan to heart and then run with it. And then there was his attitude towards slavery and the south? One can't help but feel that his entire later career in the House was dedicated to making life miserable for the region that denied him a second term, and had the audacity to believe in a peculiar insitution which was morally despicable.
And so, I give you the following challange:
Make a timeline where John Quincy Adams is listed in the same breath as Washington and Jefferson. Rather than his Presidency being a dismal failture, I want you to make it amazing. JQA deserves to go down as one of the greatest, and I challange you to make it so!
 
Hm. Would getting rid of Andrew Jackson help?

As in, somehow he gets hit by hostile butterflies (or bullets).

I don't know enough to think of a specific POD offhand, so I'm just trying to see what would be needed for a good start.
 
Hm. Would getting rid of Andrew Jackson help?

As in, somehow he gets hit by hostile butterflies (or bullets).

I don't know enough to think of a specific POD offhand, so I'm just trying to see what would be needed for a good start.

Getting rid of Jackson might not be a bad option. Maybe he takes a stray bullet at New Orleans, or possible he is forced to resign in disgrace after Florida.
 
Having Jackson win in 1824 would be a good POD. ITTL Andy's not going to have a congress so willing to go along with his designs as he did in ours, and, being who he is, he will eventually push things a little too far and piss someone off. That could elect an anti-Jacksonian opposition in 1826 that would stall out his presidency. Say things get really ugly in Washington and Jackson pisses off the southernors, namely Calhoun, then by 1828 you could have a really interesting race between Jackson, Adams and Calhoun. Most Americans will want a return to the era of good feelings, a return to "normalcy," and so will be looking for someone who reminds the of those days. Calhoun is one of those candidates and carries much of the south and siphons off enough of Jackson's support in the middle states for Adams (the other such candidate), with Clay's support in the "West," to win the election outright. With a cooperative and friendly congress that includes Speaker Clay, as well as a Secretary of State Calhoun, Adams enjoys the support of the majority of the country and embarks on his system of reforms and improvements from 1829 - 1837. As long as he keeps the Bank healthy, the economy should remain relatively stable for his successor's first term which would absolve him of any future economic woes as well. Maybe, just for good measure, have him annex Texas as well. I recall reading that he wasn't necessarily opposed to the idea IOTL, and it would add a bit of the ol' Manifest Destiny spirit to his tenure in office.

What do you think?
 
If the annexation of Texas provokes a war with Mexico that he wins, he will probably be remembered as one of the better Presidents of the 1800s, certainly up there with Jefferson. His later reputation depends completely on how the TL progresses after that.
 
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