It’s November 29, 1781. I’m in cold St. Petersburg, Russia with 14-year-old Secretary to the U.S. Minister to Russia, John Quincy Adams.
JG: “Master Adams. You’re very young to be so far away from home. How did you become Secretary to the U.S. Minister?”
JQA: “Mr. Gillespie, my mother and my father have homeschooled me in the classics, the Bible, Hebrew, Greek, Latin and French, as well as in law and government. Like my father, I want to serve my country in any way that I am able.”
John Quincy did serve as he went on to graduate from Harvard, became a US congressman and our sixth president. He fought diligently to end slavery.
Read more about John Quincy Adams.
John and Jan Gillespie are the founders of the Rawhide Boys’ Ranch; they have fostered 351 teenagers and wrote the book Our 351 Sons; they have also assisted numerous churches in developing youth programs and expanding their total church ministries. After running for U.S. Senate, John founded 1776 American Dream, which exists to demonstrate the vision of our founding fathers and help our generation of youth passionately embrace those values.
