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to the White House and the enduring hostility of rival candidate Andrew Jackson. John Quincy's presidency was, like his father's, an unhappy one that terminated abruptly aer a single term. Historians generally rate him as a below-average chief executive; ironically in light of his subsequent achievements as a congressman, the most common reason given for his failure is a lack of polit- ical nous. When Adams departed Washington on the eve of Jackson's triumphal inauguration in March 1829, most observers doubtless assumed he was riding off into quiet retirement. It was therefore to near uni- versal surprise—including, if Adams's diary is to be believed, his own—that the voters of his home state chose the 63-year-old veteran to represent them in the Twenty-Second Congress, which would convene in December 1831, making him still to this day the only former president to ser ve in the House of Representatives. e first duty of the freshman Member from Mas- sachusetts upon taking his seat was to participate in the election of a Speaker, as was required at the open- ing of every new Congress (fig. 3). e Constitution states that "the House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker," but le the powers and responsibilities of the office to be settled by the House. Historians have gen- erally maintained that the Members of the First Con- gress sought their model in the British Parliament, in which the Speaker functions merely as an impartial moderator. Yet the significant powers that they allo- cated to the office suggest a more active leadership role, and one which over time would become a focal point for party competition. Chief amongst these was the power of Fig. 3. "Old Hall of the House" (present-day Statuary Hall), from a c. 1834 print by William Goodacre (1803–1883) THE CAPITOL DOME 18