However, Andrew Jackson's military campaign in Florida, and Henry Clay's threats in Congress, forced Spain to cut a deal, which Adam negotiated successfully. Biographer James Lewis says, 'He managed to play the cards that he had been dealt – cards that he very clearly had not wanted – in ways that forced the Spanish cabinet to recognize the weakness of its own hand.' Apart from the Monroe doctrine, his last four years the Secretary of State were less successful, since he was absorbed in his presidential campaign and refused to make compromises with other nations that might have weakened his candidacy; The result was a small scale trade war, but a successful election to the White House. When Adams took office, Spanish possessions bordered the United States to the South and West. In the South, Spain retained control of Florida, which the U.S. had long sought to purchase. When Adams took office, Spanish possessions bordered the United States to the South and West.
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