[3][4] After leaving College he was an assistant teacher in Phillips Exeter Academy for one year, then studied law in the office of John Quincy Adams.

[5] At the close of the War of 1812, Governor of Massachusetts William Eustis was appointed minister to the Netherlands, and Everett accompanied him as secretary of legation, but after a year of service returned home.

[3] On the retirement of Governor Eustis from the legation, however, Everett was appointed his successor, with the rank of chargé d'affaires to The Hague, which post he held from 1818 till 1824.

[4] Everett used his time to write a book on European affairs, published in 1821 as Europe; or, A General Survey of the Present Situation of the Principal Powers; with Conjectures on Their Future Prospects.

His political fortunes in Massachusetts plummeted when, after serving in the state legislature, Everett switched parties from Whig to Democrat and was blamed for his brother Edward's loss in his bid for reelection as governor in 1839.