1824 Election | Voting Public | Dirty Campaigning | Victory

The campaign of 1828 had its bitter roots in an election between the same two candidates four years earlier.

In the election of 1824, Jackson won the popular and electoral vote, but the three other candidates divided votes and caused no majority. This lack of majority threw the election into the House of Representatives. Henry Clay, Speaker of the House and Representative from Kentucky, yielded a great deal of power and influence and decided to put his support behind Adams who was awarded the presidency. Three days later Clay was appointed Secretary of State, considered the post to hold before being elected president.

Henry Clay was also a candidate in the 1824 presidential bid and had ambitions to one day serve in that capacity. Jackson declared a corrupt bargain. One Washington newspaper wrote an editorial affirming a deal had been made but both Adams and Clay deny any truth in the accusation. >>>

Sources :

The Hermitage [website], accessed 21 August 2001; available from http://www.thehermitage.com/elect.htm; Internet

The American President [website], accessed 21 August 2001; available www.americanpresident.org/lp_goodolddays.htm; Internet

James Parton, The Life of Andrew Jackson, Volume III (New York: Mason Brothers, 1861)