译 / 陈式方程
VOA Learning English presents America’s Presidents.
美国之音慢速英语介绍美国总统栏目。
Today we are talking about John Quincy Adams. Does his name sound familiar? John Quincy Adams, the sixth president, was the son of John Adams, the second president.
今天，我们来谈论约翰·昆西·亚当斯。这个名字听起来是否有点熟悉？约翰·昆西·亚当斯，美国第六任总统，是第二任总统约翰·亚当斯的儿子。
Like his father, Quincy Adams had a sharp mind and a difficult personality. And, like his father, Quincy Adams served only one four-year term in office.
与他父亲一样，昆西·亚当斯思想敏锐，但很难相处。同样与他父亲一样，昆西·亚当斯只担任了一届总统。
But Quincy Adams went on to have many successful years working in a different job. He is the only former president (so far) to serve in the House of Representatives.
但昆西·亚当斯随后（竞选总统连任失败之后）在其他职位的几年里都很成功。他是唯一一位当选美国众议员的卸任总统。
Great expectations 伟大期望
The parents of John Quincy Adams, John and Abigail, were strong patriots1. Theirs was one of the founding families of America.
约翰·昆西·亚当斯的父母，约翰和阿比盖尔，是坚定的爱国主义者。他们的家族是美国的创始家族之一。
Abigail Adams especially raised her son to serve his country. She expected him to become president. She told him that, with his good education and training, if he did not serve in a high public office it would be his own fault2.
尤其是阿比盖尔·亚当斯，一直培养她的儿子为祖国服务，她期望昆西能成为总统。她告诫昆西，在如此好的教育和培训下，如果他不能担任高级公职，那将是他自己的责任。
Quincy Adams did not disappoint3 his mother. As a child, he learned to speak at least four languages and read Greek and Latin. He also studied Shakespeare’s plays.
昆西·亚当斯没有辜负母亲的期望。小时候，他学会了至少四种语言，并且能够读懂希腊和拉丁语，他还学习了莎士比亚的戏剧。
At age 10, he traveled with his father to Europe. As a young man, he worked alongside John Adams, in American diplomatic offices in Paris, Amsterdam and St. Petersburg.
10岁的时候，他跟随父亲去欧洲旅行。年轻的时候，他随着父亲约翰·亚当斯，在巴黎、阿姆斯特丹和圣彼得堡的美国外交办公室工作。
Finally, Quincy Adams returned to his home in Boston in time to graduate4 from Harvard. He was working as a lawyer by the age of 23.
最后，昆西·亚当斯返回波士顿的家中及时从哈佛毕业，23岁时他成为了一名律师。
Stories confirm that Quincy Adams was a brilliant boy and young man. But he rarely compromised his ideas. His inability to work with other lawmakers and to consider public opinion5 were partly to blame for his difficult presidency.
许多故事证实昆西·亚当斯是一个聪明的男孩和年轻人，但是他很少妥协他的想法。他无法与其他国会议员合作，也不太考虑民意，这在一定程度上要为他艰难的总统任期负责。
Poor politician. Excellent diplomat 糟糕的政治家，优秀的外交官
Quincy Adams may have been a poor politician, but he was an excellent diplomat. In the early part of his career, he served as the American ambassador to the Netherlands, Germany, Russia and Britain.
昆西·亚当斯也许是一位糟糕的政治家，但他是一位优秀的外交官。职业生涯早期，他担任过驻荷兰，德国，俄国和英国的美国大使。
He helped lead the negotiations that ended the War of 1812.
他协助并领导了1812年战争终止的谈判。
And he served for eight years as secretary of state under James Monroe.
詹姆斯·门罗总统任期内，他担任了8年的国务卿。
Some of that president’s accomplishments6 owe a lot to Quincy Adams. He helped negotiate the purchase of Florida from Spain.
门罗总统的一些成就很大一部分应归功于昆西·亚当斯。他协助谈判并从西班牙购买了佛罗里达州。
And, he was of the people responsible for the Monroe Doctrine. It warned Europe not to interfere in the Western Hemisphere.
而且，他还是门罗主义的负责人。门罗主义警示欧洲不要干预西半球。
But Quincy Adams could be impatient, especially with lawmakers. Many of them, he believed, did not care much about the country and wanted to help only themselves.
但是昆西·亚当斯没有耐心，尤其是对立法者。他认为，他们大多数只想帮助自己并不关心国家。
Quincy Adams also avoided political battles. As secretary of state, he appointed people whom he thought were capable, even if they did not support his political party.
昆西·亚当斯也避免了政治斗争。担任国务卿时，他任命他认为有能力的人，即使这个人不支持他的政治党派。
Similarly, when he became president, he tried to bring political opponents – along with representatives of different parts of the country – together in his cabinet.
同样地，当他当选总统后，他试图将他的政治敌人 — 连同国家不同政党的代表 — 一起选为内阁成员。
His opponents, however, refused to serve.
然而，他的政敌拒绝为他服务。
And, although his cabinet included southerners, he did not really have the support of the South.
而且，尽管他的内阁包含南方人，但并没有真正得到南方的支持。
Presidency 总统任期
Yet Quincy Adams talked about unity in his presidential inaugural speech. Adams said the Constitution and the representative democracy of the United States had proved a success. The nation was free and strong and stretched across the continent, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.
然而，昆西·亚当斯在他的总统就职演说中谈到了团结。亚当斯说，美国的宪法和代议制民主取得了成功。国家的自由和强大横跨了整个大西洋到太平洋之间的大陆。
He noted that political divisions had eased. So now, he said, it was time for the people to settle their differences and make a truly national government.
他指出，政见不同（政治分歧）已经缓和。所以，现在是人民解决分歧并建立一个真正国家政府的时候了。
In his first message to Congress, President Adams described his ideas.
在第一次向国会传达的信息中，亚当斯总统陈述了他的想法。
The chief purpose of the government, he said, was to improve the lives of the people it governed. To do this, he offered a national program of building roads and canals. He also proposed a national university and a national scientific center.
他说，政府的主要目的是改善人民的生活。为此，他提出了修建道路和运河的全国计划。他还提议建立国立大学和国家科学中心。
Adams said Congress should not be limited to making laws only to improve the nation’s economic life. He said it should make laws to improve the arts and sciences, too.
亚当斯说，国会不应该只制定法律来改善国家的经济生活，同时也应该制定法律来改善艺术和科学。
But many people of the West and South did not believe that the Constitution gave the federal government the power to do all these things. They believed these powers belonged to the states.
但是许多西方和南方人认为宪法并没有赋予联邦政府做所有事情的权利。他们认为这些权利应属于州政府。
Their representatives in Congress rejected the president’s proposals.
他们的国会代表否决了总统的提议。
In addition, a new opposition party was trying to weaken support for Quincy Adams. They supported a general from Tennessee named Andrew Jackson.
另外，一个新涌现的反对党派一直尝试削弱昆西·亚当斯的支持率。他们支持一位来自田纳西州名叫安德鲁·杰克逊的将军。
Historian Harlow Giles Unger says John Quincy Adams was never able to meet the high expectations many people had for him.
历史学家哈洛·贾尔斯·昂格尔认为，约翰·昆西·亚当斯从未满足许多人对他的期望。
“His presidency was a complete failure,” Unger told VOA. “He was able to accomplish nothing.”
“他的总统生涯是一个彻头彻尾的失败，” 昂格尔告诉美国之音，“他无法取得任何成就。”
Retirement … sort of 半隐退
Quincy Adams lost the presidential election of 1828 in a landslide7.
昆西·亚当斯在1828年的总统选举中大败。
He refused to attend the inauguration of Andrew Jackson. He returned to his home in Quincy, Massachusetts depressed and worried about the country.
他拒绝参加安德鲁·杰克逊的就职典礼。他回到位于马萨诸塞州昆西市的家中，对国家忧心忡忡。
His wife, Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, believed they were returning to Massachusetts to stay. She was an American, but was born in England. Her mother was British. She was, at the time, the first foreign-born first lady.
他的妻子璐易丝·凯瑟林·约翰逊·亚当斯相信他们会回到马萨诸塞州定居。她是美国人，但在英国出生，她的母亲是英国人。当时，她是第一位外国出生的第一夫人。
John and Louisa had four children, but their only daughter had died as a baby. Their sons were grown8 by the time Quincy Adams retired from the presidency.
约翰和璐易丝有四个孩子，但他们唯一的女儿早早夭折。他们的儿子在昆西·亚当斯卸任总统时都长大了。
Soon he became restless9.
很快，他变得焦躁不安。
Some neighbors asked if Quincy Adams would consider representing the district as a member of the U.S. Congress. He agreed – but only if voters would let him act as he believed was right, instead of as what would be politically popular.
一些邻居询问昆西·亚当斯是否考虑代表地区作为美国国会议员。他同意了 — 但前提是选民要让他按照自己的想法行事，而不是迎合主流政治。
Apparently they agreed, too, because voters elected Quincy Adams to the House of Representatives nine times.
显然选民也同意了，因为他们九次选举了昆西·亚当斯当众议院议员。
In Congress, Quincy Adams often fought for citizen’s individual liberty. He strongly opposed slavery. His ideas were not widely popular at the time, especially among other lawmakers. They had created a rule that said Congress would not even consider any measures against slavery.
在国会，昆西·亚当斯经常为公民个人自由而战。他强烈反对蓄奴。当时，他的想法不是很受欢迎，尤其是在其他立法者当中。他们制定了一条规定，内容是国会甚至不会考虑任何反对奴隶制的措施。
Yet Quincy Adams defended the rights of enslaved people – frequently, and sometimes successfully.
然而，昆西·亚当斯还是频繁地为奴隶的权利辩护，有时也会成功。
He died at the age of 88, a few days after suffering a stroke on the floor of the House of Representatives.
亚当斯由于中风，突然倒在众议院的地板上，几天后便与世长辞，终年88岁。
At the time, lawmakers were considering a proposal. And, as usual, John Quincy Adams was loudly voting no.
当时，议员们正在考虑一项提案。约翰·昆西·亚当斯和往常一样，正大声反对。
原文链接
https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/americas-presidents-john-quincy-adams/3777362.html
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patriot - n. a person who loves and strongly supports or fights for his or her country ↩
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fault - n. responsibility for a problem, mistake or bad situation ↩
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disappoint - v. to make someone unhappy by not being as good as expected or by not doing something that was hoped for or expected ↩
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graduate - v. to earn a degree or diploma from a school, college, or university ↩
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public opinion - 民意；公众舆论 ↩
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accomplishment - n. the successful completion of something ↩
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landslide - n. an election in which the winner gets a much greater number of votes than the loser ↩
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grown - adj. 长大的；成年的 ↩
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restless - adj. 焦躁不安的；不安宁的；得不到满足的 ↩
