Since the 1800 election between President John Adams and his Vice-President Thomas Jefferson which was a down and dirty no holds barred campaign and election, things had gone rather smoothly every 4 years. In 1820 no one even bothered to run against the incumbant President James Monroe. But that all was about to change. The 1824 election would be more like the campaigns of modern times.

A footnote here- There has been only one time in American history where there has been three- two term POTUS in a row. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe. Recently we have had Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. If Barack H. Obama wins re-election it will be the second time it’s happened.

The moment James Monroe began his second term, candidates started lining up for 1824, like they do today. {I’ve already been reading about Hillary Rodham Clinton’s plans for 2016} There were a slew of potential candidates. Andrew Jackson a hero of the War of 1812, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams the son of POTUS #2 John Adams, William Crawford the current Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Clay the Speaker of the House, Secretary of War John Calhoun. They all started jockeying for position years before the 1824 election. All of these candidates were members of the Democratic-Republican party, since the Federalist Party had went belly up.

For the first time there would be a popular vote of the people. A lot of folks were not happy about how they went about selecting the candidates in the past, they considered it elitist. So the people would get to vote. Still 6 of the 24 states would select their electors as they did in the past though.

When the things all started William Crawford was considered to be the man to beat. President Monroe favored him. Crawford who is now lost to history, at that time was very popular. Crawford was from Georgia.He was the Secretary of the Treasury. He had a sparkling resume. He had been a US Senator, Minister to France, Secretary of War under James Madison and now Secretary of the Treasury for Monroe. He was considered good-looking, friendly,and well liked.  Something bad though happened along the way which knocked Crawford off as the frontrunner. He suffered a stroke which left him paralyzed and nearly blind. He would recover to the point where he resumed his Cabinet post but the stroke all but ruined his chances.

Andrew Jackson was the hero at the Battle of New Orleans, destroying the British in 1815. He was a ‘man of the people”  He was tall and handsome and one of the most ruthless individuals in American political history. Jackson was from the west- Tennessee. You didn’t want to get on the bad side of Andy Jackson.

Henry Clay from Kentucky was the Speaker of the House. He was for internal improvements, a national bank and a standing army.

John Quincy Adams was the current Secretary of State. He was from Massachusetts. The past 3 presidents-Jefferson, Madison and Monroe had all been Secretary of State. Adams had that going for him. He was also the son of POTUS #2 John Adams. He was short, bald and a very cold person. Not someone who was going to win anyone over by his personality. But in many ways he was a brilliant man. What he lacked in charm he made up for in intelligence.

All together there were 17 men in the running but most were long shots who dropped out early in the process. The 5th serious candidate was John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, he was the Secretary of War. Early in 1824 he would drop out and would automatically become the front-runner to become Vice-President.

The campaign was a nasty one. They claimed that John Quincy Adams was selling off federal appointments for votes, that Clay was a drunk and a gambler, that Jackson was a murderer, having executed mutineers in 1813. Crawford although he was paralyzed and nearly blind stayed in the race and was accused of malfeasance in his job at the treasury department. Each candidate was strong in their own section of the country.

Andrew Jackson won 41.3 % of the popular vote, John Quincy Adams 30.9%, Henry Clay 13% and William Harris Crawford 11.2 %

The Electoral College met in mid-December to cast their votes. It was apparent that no one was going to have enough support to outright win this election.

On February 9th they counted the votes in Congress and Jackson had 91 electoral votes, Adams 84, Crawford 41 and Clay 37. No one had enough to win. Some thought since Andrew Jackson had the most electoral votes that he should be the winner but that is not what the US Constitution says. The election would go to the House of Representatives.

Each state would have one vote. Henry Clay threw his support to John Quincy Adams. They thought alike on most issues and Clay thought with Adams as POTUS that his plan for internal improvements would help his native Kentucky and the American West. With Clay giving Missouri, Kentucky and Ohio to Adams he had enough now to win. The final states votes were Adams 13, Jackson 7 and Crawford 4. John Quincy Adams would be the 6th POTUS. John C. Calhoun won the Vice-Presidency.

Jackson and his followers immediately cried foul! When John Quincy Adams named Henry Clay his Secretary of State it looked to many like there was a “Corrupt Bargain” the claim was the Clay threw his support Adams way so that he would be named Secretary of State. Remember at this time with Adams election for POTUS in a row had been Secretary of State. John Quincy Adams always denied that any such deal had been made.

To say Andrew Jackson was bitter would be an understatement. He would resign his post in the Senate and head back home to Tennessee and start planning his revenge in 1824.

This election was such a mess that John Quincy Adams presidency never had a chance. POTUS John Quincy Adams  had a lot of plans but could not get them passed through Congress. His four years in office was marred by how he was elected.

How the states voted in the election is below- before it was thrown to the House of Representatives.

The voting in the House of Representitives are as follows.