==Rhetoric==
Disowned by the Federalists and not fully accepted by the [[Democratic-Republican Party|Republicans]], Adams used his Boylston Professorship of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard as a new base.<ref> He was appointed in 1805, after turning down the presidency of Harvard.</ref> Adams' devotion to classical rhetoric shaped his response to public issues. He remained inspired by classical rhetorical ideals long after the neo-classicalism and deferential politics of the founding generation had been eclipsed by the commercial ethos and mass democracy of the Jacksonian Era. Many of Adams's idiosyncratic positions were rooted in his abiding devotion to the Ciceronian ideal of the citizen-orator "speaking well" to promote the welfare of the polis.<ref> Lyon Rathbun, "The Ciceronian Rhetoric of John Quincy Adams." ''Rhetorica'' (2000) 18(2): 175-215. </ref>
Adams was influenced by the classical republican ideal of civic eloquence espoused by British philosopher [[David Hume]].<ref> See David Hume, "Of Eloquence," in ''Essays, Political and Moral'' *1742)</ref> Adams adapted these classical republican ideals of public oratory to America, viewing the multilevel political structure as ripe for "the renaissance of Demosthenic eloquence." Adams's ''Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory'' (1810) looks at the fate of ancient oratory, the necessity of liberty for it to flourish, and its importance as a unifying element for a new nation of diverse cultures and beliefs. Just as civic eloquence failed to gain popularity in Britain, in the United States interest faded in the second decade of the 18th century as the "public spheres of heated oratory" disappeared in favor of the private sphere.<ref> Adam S. Potkay, "Theorizing Civic Eloquence in the Early Republic: the Road from David Hume to John Quincy Adams." ''Early American Literature'' (1999) 34(2): 147-170. </ref>