Word: josiah
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...independence of thought showed through again in a later speech on foreign relations: "But, acting in a public capacity, with the high responsibilities resulting from the great interests dependent upon my decision, I cannot yield to the wishes of love-sick patriots, or the visions of teeming enthusiasts." Poor Josiah! He had no power in the House, but never weighed decisions for political expediency. His personal standards determined his vote...
...Josiah's Puritanical training started right at the cradle. His widowed mother, fearful of "hurtful indulgence," would rouse him from slumber and dip him three times in a tub of frigid water. At the tender age of six, he entered Phillips Academy in Andover, probably since his grandfather had founded it. His academic training consisted of memorizing hymns, Greek and Latin grammar, and attending sermons. Although Quincy described the Puritan restrictions as "wearisome and irksome," he learned them well; he remained a teetotaler and habitually rose...
Quincy decided to enter law and apprenticed himself to Mr. William Tudor for training, not only in legal niceties but also in political maneuvers. Josiah was born and remained a Federalist, although the party collapsed 40 years before his death, and despite his relatively late start in politics, he advanced rapidly...
...Federalist Party first took note of Quincy after his flaming July 4th oration in 1798, which lambasted the French Directory and its attitude toward the fledgling United States. Edmund Quincy, Josiah's son and very partial biographer, enthused over the speech: "The effect which his oration produced upon the audience in the Old South Church was long remembered by those who heard it, for the fiery enthusiasm it aroused, and the passionate tears it drew forth." Quincy stood for Congress in the election of 1800, and, like the rest of the Federalists, went down to defeat. Democratic newspapers pointed...
...most characteristic and striking manifestation of his political independence came in a motion suggesting impeachment of President Jefferson. His unexpected attack upon the President evidently created a great sensation in Washington. Representatives bobbed up, violently censuring Quincy for his resolution, and when the vote came, only the name of Josiah Quincy favored the affirmative. Nearly 50 years later, Quincy looked back on this episode: "No public exertion of mine has been more fully justified by the reflections of a long life," he wrote. His defiance of the President, of Congress, and of public opinion fitted in well with his independent...