American lawyer and businessman, government official, yachtsman, and philanthropist who made Harvard University one of the most abundantly endowed academic institutions.

Adams was the son of the lawyer and historian Charles Francis Adams, Jr. (1835–1915), as well as great-grandson of the sixth U.S. president and great-great-grandson of the second. He was educated at Adams Academy in Quincy and at Harvard (A.B., 1888; LL.B., 1892) and took up the practice of law in Boston, specializing in estates and trusts. From 1900 until his death he served as director on the boards of dozens of American banks and corporations.

In 1898 Adams was elected treasurer of the Corporation of Harvard College, and for the next 30 years he had charge of the school's capital funds. During his tenure Harvard's endowment grew from $15,000,000 to $120,000,000, largely as a consequence of his financial and managerial skills. When he resigned as treasurer in 1929, Harvard was well prepared to face the ensuing Great Depression. Later, Adams was president of the Harvard Alumni Association (1933–34) and of the Harvard Board of Overseers (1937–43).

Adams was U.S. secretary of the navy during the Herbert Hoover administration (1929–33). After he left government service Adams resumed his manifold business interests and indulged his profound love of yacht racing. He won the America's Cup in 1920, and in 1939 (at the age of 73) he captured the King's, Astor, and Puritan cups—the three top prizes in American yacht racing—in a single season. He continued to race until 1951, and he maintained his business, financial, and philanthropic activities to the end of his long life.