THE ELECTION OF 1824

In this election Secretary of the Treasury William Crawford, Speaker of the House Henry Clay, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, and Tennessee's Andrew Jackson all ran for president. All of them considered themselves Republicans (the party was now referred to in many newspapers as Democratic-Republican), Jackson won the most popular votes, but only 38 percent of the electoral voces, so the election was turned over to the House of Representatives. Speaker of the House Clay threw his support to Adams, who won in the House and then appointed Clay to the position of Secretary of State.

For the next four years supporters of Jackson did everything they could to sabotage the presidency of John Quincy Adams, constantly reminding themselves of the “corrupt bargain” between Adams and Clay that had decided the 1824 election.