1767: Born in Massachusetts

1775: American Revolutionary War begins

1787: Earns degree from Harvard College

1790-94: Works as attorney in private practice in Boston

1794-97: Serves as minister to Holland

1796: Father John Adams elected president

1797-1801: Serves as minister to the Court of Prussia

1803-8: Serves in the U.S. Senate as a Federalist from Massachusetts; recalled by special election in 1808

1809-15: Serves as minister to Russia during presidency of James Madison

1812: War of 1812 begins

1815-17: Serves as minister to Great Britain; negotiator of Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812

1817-24: Serves as U.S. secretary of state; writes the Monroe Doctrine

1825-29: Serves as sixth U.S. president

1831-49: Serves in the U.S. House of Representatives from Plymouth District, Massachusetts

1841: Serves as co-counsel on the Amistad case argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, delivering the closing argument

1844: Successful in rescinding...