John Quincy Adams – elected by the US House of Representatives –
February 9, 1825!
On February 8th, I posted about the election of Richard Johnson as the ninth Vice President of th US, which occurred on that day in 1837. It is the only time that a Vice President was elected by the US House of Representatives under the provisions of the 12th Amendment to the US Constitution. On the next day February 9th, twelve years earlier in 1825, John Quincy Adams was elected President in a similar manner. At the end of the voting for President in 1824, no candidate received a majority of the electoral votes, so the Us House of Representatives voted to decide the election.
After the War of 1812, the Federalist party dissolved, and by 1820 only the Democratic-Republican Party remained. In fact, James Monroe ran for his second term unopposed! In 1824, Monroe’s Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins, was considered unelectable due to his overwhelming unpopularity and major health problems (which would ultimately claim his life in June 1825, a little over three months after he left office). This left the field wide open, the race ultimately came down to five candidates. From Wikipedia:
William H. Crawford, Secretary of the Treasury, who had been nominated by a caucus of a minority of the Republican members of Congress. The majority decided that this caucus was elitist and anti-democratic, thus they were inclined to disregard its preference.
John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State, who held the second most prominent position in the American government at that time. Both James Madison and James Monroe (the last two presidents) had gone from Secretary of State to the presidency, and there was an attitude that the post of Secretary of State was intended to be preparatory to promotion to the presidency.
Henry Clay, Speaker of the House, who was well known and well respected across the nation. He probably would have received the Congressional caucus nomination if he had wanted it, but he did not believe that the caucus process was the best means to select presidential candidates.
Andrew Jackson, a military hero, former governor, and former senator, who was widely viewed as a champion of the common man in many parts of the country.
John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War, who had a strong following in South Carolina and Pennsylvania. Pressures within South Carolina state politics were forcing him to shift from his earlier stance as a nationalist to his later position as a rigid defender of states’ rights. Read More
Calhoun decided there was no way he could win the presidency against such tough competition, so he withdrew from the race and ran instead for vice president, which he won handily Here is the final vote. Andrew Jackson won the popular vote by a healthy margin over John Quincy Adams. However, Jackson need 131 electoral votes to win the election, he only received 99 votes!!
| Presidential Candidate | Party | Home State | Popular Vote(a) | Electoral Vote | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | Percentage | ||||
| Andrew Jackson(b) | Democratic-Republican | Tennessee | 151,271 | 41.4 | 99 |
| John Quincy Adams(e) | Democratic-Republican | Massachusetts | 113,122 | 30.9 | 84 |
| William Harris Crawford(c) | Democratic-Republican | Georgia | 40,856 | 11.2 | 41 |
| Henry Clay(d) | Democratic-Republican | Kentucky | 47,531 | 13.0 | 37 |
| (Massachusetts unpledged electors) | None | N/A | 6,616 | 1.8 | 0 |
| Other | 6,437 | 1.8 | 0 | ||
| Total | 365,833 | 100.0% | 261 | ||
| Needed to win | 131 | ||||
The election was turned over to the House of Representatives where John Quincy Adams was ultimately elected. The election in the House was very controversial A newspaper in Philadelphia the Columbian Observer reported that a member of Congress accused Henry Clay of selling Adams his support, his price the office of Secretary of State (Up until this time four presidents had served as Secretary of State in the previous administration) . The allegation was never formally investigated so the existence of the “Corrupt Bargain” as it became know by Andrew Jackson was never confirmed or denied, Clay did eventually become Secretary of State and the heir apparent to Adams. Four the next four years, the Jacksonians campaigned on this claim. Ultimately, Jackson’s defeated Adams in their rematch in the election of 1828.
After the election, the Democratic-Republican party, which had won seven consecutive presidential races (still the longest presidential winning streak in US history) splintered even more, The faction led by Andrew Jackson would go on to become the current Democratic party, while the factions led by John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay would become the National Republican Party (no relation to the current Republican Party) and finally the Whig Party.
I can’t even imagine what would happen if something similar happened today. We know that in 2000 Al Gore like Jackson won the popular vote and while he ultimately lost the election, he lost because the Supreme Court allowed the Florida vote to stand which gave George Bush enough electoral votes to win the election.. Can you imagine if the election had been thrown to the House and a “corrupt bargain” was struck between a House member and Mr Bush that involved the House member being named Secretary of State!! Oh, my!!
