Wednesday, November 30, 2011

This Day in History December 1, 1824


Political PartyPresidential Nom.VP Nom.#%#%
Democratic-RepublicanAndrew Jackson9937.90
Democratic-RepublicanJohn Quincy Adams8432.20
Democratic-RepublicanWilliam H. Crawford4115.70
Democratic-RepublicanHenry Clay3714.20



What I have put above is some very unusual election results from the election of 1824.  As you can see, no one won the majority.  At least as far as percentage goes.  And while it was Jackson and Adams who had the most electoral votes, Crawford and Clay complicated things.  No candidate had the 50% of the electoral votes needed to win.

So on this date in 1824, Congress was called in to decide the election.  This was according to the 12th amendment.  And the decision had to be made between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson--two candidates who were on opposite sides of the poles.

It was Speaker Henry Clay who convinced Congress to go with Adams.  And it should come as no surprise that Adams chose Clay for his Secretary of State.  Jackson became rather irate, and he united the fragmented Democratic party, and in four years, Jackson easily beat Adams.

I have heard before that presidents can be elected without a majority of the vote.  I now see that this did happen.  I probably learned about it in history, but I don't always remember everything.  To be perfectly honest, I am not a fan of Jackson, and Quincy Adams was not really exciting.  But between the two, I am glad that Adams won.  It was Jackson's policies that began to lead to the Civil War.

For more information on this, check out:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/congress-decides-outcome-of-presidential-election
http://www.historycentral.com/elections/1824.html
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/showelection.php?year=1824

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