Profiles In Courage is a book that focuses on the adversity that very few United States senators have been willing to face in order to cultivate their ideas of a better democracy. It focuses primarily on the independent thoughts and opinions that these few politicians agreed to hold, despite other odds against them. The first senator focused on is John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, son of John Adams. He was a Puritan and a Federalist, with a strange loyalty to his father. One of the strange things about young Adams was his constant perception. No matter what he accomplished, and he accomplished a lot (like being an emissary to England, president of the United States, minister to Russia, senator, and several other things), he was never satisfied. of his own free will, knowing that following his own principles would lead to unpopularity, which it most certainly did. When a party was thrown by the Jeffersonians to celebrate the Louisiana Purchase, he was there, much to the disgust of other members of his party. . When three patriots died and the Federalists wanted to wear crepe for a month in their honor, he opposed it. One of the main standards Quincy set for himself was not to pretend or dissemble in order to gain popularity or support from voters. Adams began only one term in the Senate with his obvious independent thinking and non-automatic reciprocity when he suggested that the opposing party receive an equal place on the governor's council. He also differed from his multitude on another important issue. During his years in the Senate, Britain seized American ships. Adams condemned Britain for this, although his party pitied Britain for its difficulties in its wartime history...... middle of paper ...... age and adversity. In this, Kennedy did not write boring stories about historical events, but rather how people reacted to events that affected the nation's history. A member of the Senate himself at the time he wrote this book, he was able to take a view on issues that few could have had, since he knew the pressures of being placed in such a high political position. Kennedy's views on politics are very clearly shown throughout this book. They are not extremely biased, but the book clearly manifests Kennedy's views on politics, not in a conventional way, but rather in its relationship to the way it changes people's personalities. Kennedy was assassinated in Texas on November 22, 1963. Although his tenure as president was shorter than most, he contributed to the nation through the civil rights movement and the Cuban Missile Crisis..