Louisa Adams was much beloved by her husband, John Quincy Adams (1767-1848; see entry in volume 1) for her intelligence, temperament, and sense of daring, but she was often the target of political gibes (sarcastic remarks) from his opponents because of her heritage: Her mother was British. As the daughter of a British mother, Louisa Adams remains the only first lady to have been born outside the United States.

Louisa Adams also had an uneasy relationship with Abigail Adams (1744-1818; see entry in volume 1), her famous mother-in-law. Abigail Adams thought Louisa represented extravagant "foreign" tendencies. Indeed, John Quincy Adams feared that his mother might try to arrange a marriage for him with an American woman if she learned that he was courting Louisa. He romanced Louisa for some time in England, where he was a diplomat, before revealing by letter to his family his intention to marry...