Presidential Transitions: The 1828 Election
It must have been a very tense transition in the White House following the election of 1828. Not only was the campaign a nasty one, which included a personal attacks against the wife of the victorious candidate, but the stress of those attacks may well have killed poor Rachel Jackson, and the President-elect was never known for his forgiving nature.
The campaign began with considerable bitterness. Andrew Jackson believed that his opponent had stolen the previous election of 1824. Jackson won a plurality of electoral votes in that election, but not a majority of the popular votes or of electoral votes. This meant that the presidency was decided in the House of Representatives. That body selected second place finisher John Quincy Adams as President, and Jackson believed that it was the result of a "corrupt bargain" by which Clay was made Secretary of State in return for supporting Adams. (In those days, being Secretary of State increased a candidate's chances to become president. Every President since Thomas Jefferson had reached the presidency via that route.)
Jackson continued to have strong support throughout Adams' term in office and was nominated to be the candidate for the Democratic Party to run against Adams in 1828. The campaign was full of "mudslinging." Adams' supporters set their sights on Jackson's marriage. When Jackson married his wife Rachel in 1791, the couple believed that she was divorced. But the divorce was not yet finalized, so their first marriage ceremony was not a valid one. Jackson had to remarry Rachel once the divorce became complete. The Adams campaign labelled this as a scandal. Pro-Adams editor Charles Hammond of the Cincinnati Gazette wrote: "Ought a convicted adulteress and her paramour husband be placed in the highest offices of this free and Christian land?"
Adams' supporters also attacked Jackson, calling him a slave trader who bought and sold slaves and was indifferent to their family ties when he did so. Something called "the Coffin Handbills" attacked Jackson for his callous execution of deserters, his massacres of Indian villages, and also his habit of dueling.
The dirty politics was not just one-sided. Jackson's supporters accused Adams of being a pimp. They said that, while serving as Minister to Russia, Adams had provided an American servant girl for the sexual pleasure of the Czar. Adams was also accused of using public funds to buy gambling devices for the presidential residence. (This turned out to be a chess set and a pool table.)
Jackson won the election, winning over twice the number of electoral votes that Adams did (178 to 83). Adams won the New England states, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. Jackson won everything else. But his celebration was soon marred by tragedy. Rachel Jackson had been having chest pains throughout the campaign, and the personal attacks on her marriage caused her considerable stress and emotional discomfort. She became ill, suffering what was described as "excruciating pain in the left shoulder, arm, and breast." She died on December 22, 1828. Jackson took her death very hard. He was very reluctant to leave his home in Nashville (called the Hermitage) to go to Washington for his inauguration. He accused the Adams campaign, and Henry Clay even more so, for causing Rachel's death. At her funeral he said "May God Almighty forgive her murderers, for I never can." He later said, "I can and do forgive all my enemies. But those vile wretches who have slandered her must look to God for mercy."
On March 4, 1829, Andrew Jackson took the oath of office on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. Jackson was the first President to invite the public to attend the White House ball honoring his first inauguration. Many poor people came to the inaugural ball in ordinary clothes. The crowd became so large that Jackson's guards could not keep them out of the White House, which became so crowded with people that dishes and decorative pieces inside were broken. Some people stood on good chairs in muddied boots just to get a look at the President. The crowd had become so wild that the attendants poured punch in tubs and put it on the White House lawn to lure people outside. (Some historians claim that the reports of the damage to the White House was exaggerated).
Jackson's inauguration day fell on Ash Wednesday. An estimated 30,000 people poured into Washington to see the Hero of The Battle of New Orleans take the oath of office. Jackson was still in mourning for his wife Rachel, and chose to walk to the Capitol with little fanfare, accompanied only by fifteen elderly Revolutionary War veterans. Jackson did not make the customary visit to his predecessor due to the bitterness of the campaign and the resentment he felt, amplified by the death of Rachel. Chief Justice John Marshall adminstered the oath of office.
John Quincy Adams did not attend his successor's inauguration.
The campaign began with considerable bitterness. Andrew Jackson believed that his opponent had stolen the previous election of 1824. Jackson won a plurality of electoral votes in that election, but not a majority of the popular votes or of electoral votes. This meant that the presidency was decided in the House of Representatives. That body selected second place finisher John Quincy Adams as President, and Jackson believed that it was the result of a "corrupt bargain" by which Clay was made Secretary of State in return for supporting Adams. (In those days, being Secretary of State increased a candidate's chances to become president. Every President since Thomas Jefferson had reached the presidency via that route.)
Jackson continued to have strong support throughout Adams' term in office and was nominated to be the candidate for the Democratic Party to run against Adams in 1828. The campaign was full of "mudslinging." Adams' supporters set their sights on Jackson's marriage. When Jackson married his wife Rachel in 1791, the couple believed that she was divorced. But the divorce was not yet finalized, so their first marriage ceremony was not a valid one. Jackson had to remarry Rachel once the divorce became complete. The Adams campaign labelled this as a scandal. Pro-Adams editor Charles Hammond of the Cincinnati Gazette wrote: "Ought a convicted adulteress and her paramour husband be placed in the highest offices of this free and Christian land?"
Adams' supporters also attacked Jackson, calling him a slave trader who bought and sold slaves and was indifferent to their family ties when he did so. Something called "the Coffin Handbills" attacked Jackson for his callous execution of deserters, his massacres of Indian villages, and also his habit of dueling.
The dirty politics was not just one-sided. Jackson's supporters accused Adams of being a pimp. They said that, while serving as Minister to Russia, Adams had provided an American servant girl for the sexual pleasure of the Czar. Adams was also accused of using public funds to buy gambling devices for the presidential residence. (This turned out to be a chess set and a pool table.)
Jackson won the election, winning over twice the number of electoral votes that Adams did (178 to 83). Adams won the New England states, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. Jackson won everything else. But his celebration was soon marred by tragedy. Rachel Jackson had been having chest pains throughout the campaign, and the personal attacks on her marriage caused her considerable stress and emotional discomfort. She became ill, suffering what was described as "excruciating pain in the left shoulder, arm, and breast." She died on December 22, 1828. Jackson took her death very hard. He was very reluctant to leave his home in Nashville (called the Hermitage) to go to Washington for his inauguration. He accused the Adams campaign, and Henry Clay even more so, for causing Rachel's death. At her funeral he said "May God Almighty forgive her murderers, for I never can." He later said, "I can and do forgive all my enemies. But those vile wretches who have slandered her must look to God for mercy."
On March 4, 1829, Andrew Jackson took the oath of office on the East Portico of the U.S. Capitol. Jackson was the first President to invite the public to attend the White House ball honoring his first inauguration. Many poor people came to the inaugural ball in ordinary clothes. The crowd became so large that Jackson's guards could not keep them out of the White House, which became so crowded with people that dishes and decorative pieces inside were broken. Some people stood on good chairs in muddied boots just to get a look at the President. The crowd had become so wild that the attendants poured punch in tubs and put it on the White House lawn to lure people outside. (Some historians claim that the reports of the damage to the White House was exaggerated).
Jackson's inauguration day fell on Ash Wednesday. An estimated 30,000 people poured into Washington to see the Hero of The Battle of New Orleans take the oath of office. Jackson was still in mourning for his wife Rachel, and chose to walk to the Capitol with little fanfare, accompanied only by fifteen elderly Revolutionary War veterans. Jackson did not make the customary visit to his predecessor due to the bitterness of the campaign and the resentment he felt, amplified by the death of Rachel. Chief Justice John Marshall adminstered the oath of office.
John Quincy Adams did not attend his successor's inauguration.