Happy Birthday JQA
On this day of July 11th in 1767, just 243 years ago today, John Quincy Adams was born. He would later become the 6th President of the United States, and the first son of a former President to hold the office. (George W. Bush is the second, Benjamin Harrison is the only grandson of a former president to hold the office.)
John Quincy was famous for a number of reasons. He is renowned as one of the nation's greatest diplomats and Secretaries of State (he held the post in the cabinet of James Monroe), he won the Presidency in one of the most controversial elections ever (in what Andrew Jackson would refer to as the corrupt bargain), like his father he wasn't a great people person, so he failed to be re-elected, and he was the first president to sit in congress after being President. He was also a strong advocate of the abolition of slavery and was a man ahead of his time in that regard.
I've already journalled about his anti-slavery exploits as a congressman here, including his involvement in the famous Amistad case, so let's talk about the election he won, in 1824.
The election was a contest among:
1. Adams
2.General Andrew Jackson of Tennessee, hero of the War of 1812, a former United States Representative, and a then-current United States Senator from Tennessee.
3.William H. Crawford of Georgia, former United States Minister to France, former United States Senator from Georgia, former Secretary of War, and the then-current Secretary of the Treasury.
4.Henry Clay of Kentucky, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
The election was as much a contest of favorite sons as it was a conflict over policy (positions on tariffs and internal improvements was where some significant disagreement existed), as the candidates were backed by different sections of the country: Adams was strong in the Northeast, Jackson in the South, West and mid-Atlantic, Clay in parts of the West, and Crawford in parts of the East.
Not surprisingly, the results of the election were divided and inconclusive. The electoral map confirmed the candidates’ sectional support, with Adams winning outright in the New England states, with Jackson having success in states throughout the nation, and with Clay’s votes coming from the west and Crawford’s from the east. Andrew Jackson received more electoral votes (99) and popular votes than any other candidate, but not the 131 electoral votes to constitute a majority and win the election. Adams finished second with 84. Crawford received 41 and Clay got 37. As no candidate received the required majority of electoral votes, the presidential election was decided by the House of Representatives.
The presidential election was thrown to the U.S. House of Representatives. As per the Twelfth Amendment, only the top three candidates in the electoral vote were candidates in the House: Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and William Harris Crawford. Left out was Henry Clay, who happened to be Speaker of the House. Clay detested Jackson and had said of him, “I cannot believe that killing 2,500 Englishmen at New Orleans qualifies for the various, difficult, and complicated duties of the Chief Magistracy.” Clay's position on tariffs and internal improvements was far closer to Adams' than Jackson's or Crawford's, so Clay threw his support to Adams. John Quincy Adams was elected President on February 9, 1825, on the first ballot, with 13 states, followed by Jackson with 7, and Crawford with 4.
Adams' victory shocked Jackson, who, as the winner of a plurality of both the popular and electoral votes, expected to be elected president. An anonymous statement appeared in a Philadelphia paper, called the Columbian Observer. The statement, said to be from a member of Congress, accused Clay of selling Adams his support for the office of Secretary of State. No formal investigation was performed, so the matter was neither confirmed nor denied. When Clay was named to the position after Adams was victorious, he opted to accept and continue to support the administration he voted for, knowing that declining the position would not have helped to dispel the rumors brought against him. By appointing Clay his Secretary of State, President Adams essentially declared him heir to the Presidency, as Adams and his three predecessors had all served as Secretary of State. Jackson and his followers accused Adams and Clay of striking a “corrupt bargain”. The Jacksonians would campaign on this claim for the next four years, ultimately attaining Jackson's victory in the Adams-Jackson rematch in 1828.
John Quincy was famous for a number of reasons. He is renowned as one of the nation's greatest diplomats and Secretaries of State (he held the post in the cabinet of James Monroe), he won the Presidency in one of the most controversial elections ever (in what Andrew Jackson would refer to as the corrupt bargain), like his father he wasn't a great people person, so he failed to be re-elected, and he was the first president to sit in congress after being President. He was also a strong advocate of the abolition of slavery and was a man ahead of his time in that regard.
I've already journalled about his anti-slavery exploits as a congressman here, including his involvement in the famous Amistad case, so let's talk about the election he won, in 1824.
The election was a contest among:
1. Adams
2.General Andrew Jackson of Tennessee, hero of the War of 1812, a former United States Representative, and a then-current United States Senator from Tennessee.
3.William H. Crawford of Georgia, former United States Minister to France, former United States Senator from Georgia, former Secretary of War, and the then-current Secretary of the Treasury.
4.Henry Clay of Kentucky, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
The election was as much a contest of favorite sons as it was a conflict over policy (positions on tariffs and internal improvements was where some significant disagreement existed), as the candidates were backed by different sections of the country: Adams was strong in the Northeast, Jackson in the South, West and mid-Atlantic, Clay in parts of the West, and Crawford in parts of the East.
Not surprisingly, the results of the election were divided and inconclusive. The electoral map confirmed the candidates’ sectional support, with Adams winning outright in the New England states, with Jackson having success in states throughout the nation, and with Clay’s votes coming from the west and Crawford’s from the east. Andrew Jackson received more electoral votes (99) and popular votes than any other candidate, but not the 131 electoral votes to constitute a majority and win the election. Adams finished second with 84. Crawford received 41 and Clay got 37. As no candidate received the required majority of electoral votes, the presidential election was decided by the House of Representatives.
The presidential election was thrown to the U.S. House of Representatives. As per the Twelfth Amendment, only the top three candidates in the electoral vote were candidates in the House: Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and William Harris Crawford. Left out was Henry Clay, who happened to be Speaker of the House. Clay detested Jackson and had said of him, “I cannot believe that killing 2,500 Englishmen at New Orleans qualifies for the various, difficult, and complicated duties of the Chief Magistracy.” Clay's position on tariffs and internal improvements was far closer to Adams' than Jackson's or Crawford's, so Clay threw his support to Adams. John Quincy Adams was elected President on February 9, 1825, on the first ballot, with 13 states, followed by Jackson with 7, and Crawford with 4.
Adams' victory shocked Jackson, who, as the winner of a plurality of both the popular and electoral votes, expected to be elected president. An anonymous statement appeared in a Philadelphia paper, called the Columbian Observer. The statement, said to be from a member of Congress, accused Clay of selling Adams his support for the office of Secretary of State. No formal investigation was performed, so the matter was neither confirmed nor denied. When Clay was named to the position after Adams was victorious, he opted to accept and continue to support the administration he voted for, knowing that declining the position would not have helped to dispel the rumors brought against him. By appointing Clay his Secretary of State, President Adams essentially declared him heir to the Presidency, as Adams and his three predecessors had all served as Secretary of State. Jackson and his followers accused Adams and Clay of striking a “corrupt bargain”. The Jacksonians would campaign on this claim for the next four years, ultimately attaining Jackson's victory in the Adams-Jackson rematch in 1828.