Railroad Commissioner And Executive

An Adams and the Railroads.

Charles Francis Adams Jr. was born in patrician circumstances, into a line that stretched back to two presidents: his grandfather was John Quincy Adams and his great-grandfather John Adams. Yet for Charles's generation, the responsibilities of leadership and public service would be not only heavy burdens, but vexing challenges. Charles Francis Adams took on an especially daunting task when, well into his career, he set out to reform the most dynamic force in American business at the time: the railroads.

Youth and Early Career.

Adams spent his early years ensconced in elite Boston circles, attending the Boston Public Latin School, then Harvard, and, upon graduating, reading law at the prominent Boston firm of Dana and Parker. For several years after passing the bar Adams practiced in Boston, but half-heartedly—a purpose in life, he...