John Quincy Adams was offered a position on the U.S. Supreme Court by then-President James Madison. Adams declined. He later served as secretary of state, president, and U.S. representative from Massachusetts, and also argued several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court in his capacity as a distinguished lawyer. For example, he argued on behalf of a group of African men captured into slavery in the famous Amistad case in 1841, while he was still a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.