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Early political career (1793–1817)
Main article: Electoral history of John Quincy Adams
Early diplomatic career and marriage
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Adams initially avoided becoming involved in politics, instead focusing on building his legal career. In 1791, he wrote a series of pseudonymously published essays arguing that Britain provided a better governmental model than France. Two years later, he published another series of essays attacking Edmond-Charles Genêt, a French diplomat who sought to undermine President George Washington's policy of neutrality in the French Revolutionary Wars.[21] In 1794, Washington appointed Adams as the U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands. Adams considered declining the role, but ultimately took the position on the advice of his father.[22] While abroad, Adams continued to urge neutrality, arguing that the United States would benefit economically by staying out of the ongoing French Revolutionary Wars.