They were giants in an age of some very big giants. Consequently, Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams have not always attracted the honor and attention they deserve. John Adams was a Founding Father of the country, the first vice president and the second president. His son, John Quincy Adams, was the sixth president and an outstanding secretary of state under President James Monroe.

U.S. Rep. Tim Roemer, a Democrat from Indiana, has tried to correct the neglect of the Adams family with his legislation to create a national memorial, perhaps on the Washington Mall. Helping the process has been David McCullough’s outstanding biography of John Adams. Roemer became interested after some research on what presidents did after leaving office, and he wound up fascinated with the Adams clan.

In seeing the legislation approved in Congress and signed by President Bush, Roemer bumped into a small controversy over the location of the monument. Roemer has suggested some spot between the Jefferson Memorial and the Washington Monument. But three federal commissions that oversee national memorials adopted a ban on more monuments in that area. The ban could be overridden by Congress, but Roemer says he wants to gain recognition for Adams without doing damage to open space on the mall.

The debate over the location should not overshadow Roerner’s main point on behalf of the Adamses. He just wants to make sure that Americans remember this family, with two presidents and succeeding generations of diplomats, statesmen, and writers.

Both John Adams and John Quincy Adams encountered plenty of controversy as president, each serving only one term.

But they also served in many other key positions. the father as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and the one who recommended George Washington to head the Colonial armies instead of his Massachusetts neighbor John Hancock.

John Quincy Adams was in some sense a Founding Father as well, representing the new nation in diplomatic positions in Russia, the Netherlands, England, and Prussia. He helped negotiate the end of the War of 1812, before going on to serve as secretary of state, then president. He lost a second term to Andrew Jackson.

In contrast to most other ex-presidents, he did not retire after his time in the White House. He went on to serve in the House of Representatives and lead the battle against slavery, from age 64 until his death at 80.

Using today’s political terms. he could have been a leader of the religious right. Like Attorney General John Ashcroft, he took the Bible as his manual on how to live. He read through the Bible each year. He believed in right and wrong, based upon a transcendent standard set by God in the Bible. He had no use for relativism or the idea that there are no moral absolutes. In their American history book, From Sea to Shining Sea, Peter Marshall and David Manuel call Adams, “The Last Puritan,” because of his high standards of integrity and personal walk with Christ.

In another sense, John Quincy Adams might not be completely comfortable with the Republican or conservative emphasis on business. His advocacy for the abolition of slavery put him in conflict with the network of wealthy and financial interests tied to the slave trade in the North and South.

Had Congress heeded his prophetic cries to free the slaves, the nation could have been spared the Civil War and the 100-year aftermath of segregation and racial division. In England, another Christian, William Wilberforce, led a campaign similar to Adams’, and that led to the British abolition of the slave trade and slavery.

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The George Bush family offers some modern parallels with the Adamses—a father and son serving as presidents, even to the point of the first Bush being limited to one term, like John Adams. Like the current president, John Quincy Adams was interested in applying his faith to his government service. In personality, he was not outgoing and gregarious, in contrast to the current president, and his reserved manner probably contributed to this loss of the White House after only one term. Also probably contributing to his defeat was his refusal to use the office to give political patronage positions to his supporters. He was also more theologically conservative than his father.

In light of these historical family parallels, the current president may wonder what to do after his presidency. He would find a worthy role model in John Quincy Adams. The House would be a fit place for an ex-president to lead a pro-life campaign on behalf of unborn children.

Russ Pulliam, associate editor, Indianapolis Star