The Middle Generation is about John Quincy Adams when he served as Secretary of State. Following Napoleon's defeat and the War of 1812, he wants the US to take advantage of the Spanish Empire's disintegration to become the dominant country in North America. To do this, he must outmaneuver his political rivals, including those in President Monroe's cabinet, and Europe, which is led by the shrewd Prince Metternich of Austria. Adams also confronts the rise of slavery as a crisis which threatens to rupture the Union and his own parents' demand that he ascend to America's highest office.