Former President John Quincy Adams experienced an unusual brush with his own mortality when reports mistakenly circulated that he had died in 1829, prompting a New York newspaper to publish a premature obituary. Remarkably, Adams was very much alive and even attended a ‘celebration’ of his own life in the form of a mock funeral held in his honor, reportedly with great amusement. This incident highlights not only the occasional errors in early American journalism but also Adams’ good humor in the face of his ‘death’. Interestingly, Adams went on to serve nine terms in Congress after his presidency and truly passed away in 1848.
The President Who Outlived His Own Eulogy
