Browsing: Diary of Charles Francis Adams, Volume 1

3. Ninian Edwards (1775–1833) resigned as Senator from Illinois in 1824 in order to accept Monroe’s appointment as minister to Mexico. Before he could take up his diplomatic post, however, it was revealed that he had been the author of “the A.B. papers,” letters which made reckless charges against Secretary of the Treasury Crawford. Unable to substantiate his accusations, Edwards was obliged to resign (DAB; JQA, Memoirs, 6:296). The “present question,” of course, was the presidential succession.