In carrying out his plans of conciliation, President Monroe selected John
Quincy Adams for the responsible post of Secretary of State. Mr. Adams had
never been an active partizan. In his career as Senator, both in
Massachusetts and in Washington, during Mr. Jefferson's administration, he
had satisfactorily demonstrated his ability to rise above party
considerations, in the discharge of great and important duties. And his
long absence from the country had kept him free from personal, party, and
sectional bias, and peculiarly fitted him to take the first station in the
cabinet of a President aiming to unite his countrymen in fraternal bonds
of political amity.

Referring to this appointment, Mr. Monroe wrote Gen. Jackson as follows,
under date of March 1, 1817:--"I shall take a person for the Department of
State from the eastward; and Mr. Adams, by long service in our diplomatic
concerns appearing to be entitled to the preference, supported by his
acknowledged abilities and integrity, his nomination will go to the
Senate." Gen. Jackson, in his reply, remarks:--"I have no hesitation in
saying you have made the best selection to fill the Department of State
that could be made. Mr. Adams, in the hour of difficulty, will be an able
helpmate, and I am convinced his appointment will afford general
satisfaction." This prediction was well founded. The consummate ability
exhibited by Mr. Adams in foreign negotiations had elevated him to a high
position in the estimation of his countrymen. His selection for the State
Department was received with very general satisfaction throughout the
Union.

On receiving notice of his appointment to this responsible office, Mr.
Adams, with his family, embarked for the United States, on board the
packet-ship Washington, and landed in New York on the 6th of August, 1817.