Andrew Jackson 1828 presidential campaign

Election of 1824 The Tennessee legislature nominated Jackson for President in 1822. It also elected him U.S. Senator again. By 1817, the Democratic-Republican Party had become the only functioning national party. Its presidential candidates had been chosen by an informal congressional nominating caucus, but this had become unpopular. In 1824, most of the Democratic-Republicans in Congress boycotted the caucus. Those who attended backed Treasury Secretary William H. Crawford for president and Albert Gallatin for vice president. A Pennsylvania convention nominated Jackson for President a month later, stating that the irregular caucus ignored the "voice of the people" and was a "vain hope that the American people might be thus deceived into a belief that he [Crawford] was the regular democratic candidate". Gallatin criticized Jackson as "an honest man and the idol of the worshipers of military glory, but from incapacity, military habits, and habitual disregard of laws and constitutional provisions, altogether unfit for the office". Besides Jackson and Crawford, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and House Speaker Henry Clay were also candidates. Jackson received the most popular votes (but not a majority, and four states had no popular ballot). The electoral votes were split four ways, with Jackson having a plurality. Because no candidate received a majority, the election was decided by the House of Representatives, which chose Adams. Jackson supporters denounced this result as a "corrupt bargain" because Clay gave his state's support to Adams, who subsequently appointed Clay as Secretary of State. As none of Kentucky's electors had initially voted for Adams, and Jackson had won the popular vote, some Kentucky politicians criticized Clay for violating the will of the people in return for personal political favors. Jackson's defeat burnished his political credentials, however; many voters believed the "man of the people" had been robbed by the "corrupt aristocrats of the East". (who was a nephew-by-marriage has been described as Jackson's "court painter") designed this invitation to a ball at Nashville in honor of the visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to the United States in 1825; "the invitation occupied the space between two fine columns, one supporting a bust of Jackson and entwined with a ribbon bearing the names of his battles and having the figures 1813–15 inscribed on the pedestal; the other supporting a bust of Lafayette and bearing likewise the names of his battles and the figures 1777–81. At the base of the columns were laying cannon and cannon balls, drums, torches, etc. Above was the sun with 76 in the center, and around were the thirteen stars in the sky. Just below the sun was an eagle holding arrows in one claw and the branch of peace in the other, and placing with its beak a laurel wreath upon the head of Washington's bust, which was supported by a column in the midst of clouds and encircled by swords, spears, banners and the cap of liberty." Andrew Jackson won a plurality of electoral votes in the election of 1824, but still lost to John Quincy Adams when the election was deferred to the House of Representatives (by the terms of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, a presidential election in which no candidate wins a majority of the electoral vote is decided by the House of Representatives). Henry Clay, unsuccessful candidate and Speaker of the House at the time, despised Jackson, in part due to their fight for Western votes during the election, and he chose to support Adams, which led to Adams being elected president. A few days after the election, Adams named Clay his Secretary of State, a position which at that time often led to the presidency. Jackson and his followers immediately accused Clay and Adams of striking a "corrupt bargain," and they continued to lambast the president until the 1828 election. Adams presidency In a prelude to the presidential election, the Jacksonians bolstered their numbers in Congress in the 1826 congressional elections; Jackson ally Andrew Stevenson was chosen as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1827 over Adams ally Speaker John W. Taylor. The Tariff of 1828, also known as the Tariff of Abominations, had been signed into law earlier in the year, increasing tariff rates to above 60%. Though it had narrowly passed in the House, it was unpopular with the Southern states as they imported materials and goods from abroad. Jackson and the Democrats opposed the tariff, and the unpopularity of the bill led to a division of the vote into two main sections: the Northern, minority Adams vote, and the Southern, majority Jackson vote. Jackson also personally appealed to the Western states, and he carried their electoral votes as well. Democratic Party nomination Democratic candidate: Image:Andrew Jackson.jpg|Andrew Jackson(Tennessee) former senator and member of the House of Representatives, former general Within months after the inauguration of John Quincy Adams in 1825, the Tennessee legislature re-nominated Jackson for president, thus setting the stage for a re-match between these two very different politicians three years hence. No nominating caucus was held. Jackson accepted the incumbent Vice-president John C. Calhoun as his running mate. Jackson's supporters called themselves Democrats, thus marking the evolution of Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party into the modern Democratic Party. == Campaign ==

Jefferson's opinion Thomas Jefferson wrote favorably in response to Jackson in December 1823 and extended an invitation to his estate of Monticello: "I recall with pleasure the remembrance of our joint labors while in the Senate together in times of great trial and of hard battling, battles indeed of words, not of blood, as those you have since fought so much for your own glory & that of your country; with the assurance that my attempts continue undiminished, accept that of my great respect & consideration." Jefferson wrote in dismay at the outcome of the contingent election of 1825 to congressional caucus nominee William H. Crawford, saying that he had hoped to congratulate Crawford but "events had not been what we had wished." In the next election, Jackson's and Adams' supporters saw value in establishing the opinion of Jefferson in regards to their respective candidates and against their opposition. Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, on the same day as his predecessor, John Adams. A goal of the pro-Adams press was to depict Jackson as a "mere military chieftain." Historian Sean Wilentz described Webster's account of the meeting as "not wholly reliable." Biographer Robert V. Remini said that Jefferson "had no great love for Jackson." Controversy Gilmer accused Coles of misrepresentation, for Jefferson's opinion had changed, Gilmer said. Jefferson's son-in-law, former Virginia Governor Thomas Mann Randolph Jr., said in 1826 that Jefferson had a "strong repugnance" to Henry Clay. Others said the same thing, but Coles could not believe Jefferson's opinion had changed. The Jacksonians and states' rights men heralded its publication; the Adams men felt it a symptom of senility. Giles omitted a prior letter of Jefferson's praise of Adams for his role in the embargo of 1808. Thomas Jefferson Randolph soon collected and published Jefferson's correspondence. == Results ==

The selection of electors began on October 31 with elections in Ohio and Pennsylvania and ended on November 13 with elections in North Carolina. The Electoral College met on December 3. Adams won almost exactly the same states that his father had won in the election of 1800: the New England states, New Jersey, and Delaware. In addition, Adams picked up Maryland. Jackson won everything else, which resulted in a landslide victory for him. Popular and electoral vote Source (Popular Vote): Source (Electoral Vote): (a) The popular vote figures exclude Delaware and South Carolina. In both of these states, the Electors were chosen by the state legislatures rather than by popular vote. == Aftermath ==

Rachel Jackson had been having chest pains throughout the campaign, and she became aggravated by the personal attacks on her marriage. She became ill and died on December 22, 1828. Jackson accused the Adams campaign, and Henry Clay even more so, of causing her death, saying, "I can and do forgive all my enemies. But those vile wretches who have slandered her must look to God for mercy." The truth of the matter of Adams and the Czar was that a young female servant to Adams wife had written a letter which had been censored by the Russian postal authorities; Czar Alexander had expressed a curiosity to publicly meet and talk with the letter writer and Adams obliged. In regard to the billiard table, Adams indeed had repaired his billiard table-the bill for repair had been accidentally included in a routine White House expense accounts (Adams was also criticized for having a chess set). In regard to Rachel Jackson, Adams had not authorized his supporters to attack her- something that Jackson himself acknowledged to Adams. Nevertheless, personal relations between Adams and Jackson were cold and distant; for example when Adams's alma mater, Harvard, presented Jackson with Doctor of Laws of Degree, Adams wrote to his distant cousin (Harvard's President) expressing his annoyance that Harvard had given a degree to a "Barbarian." [I.e someone who did not know the classic languages of Greek and Latin; likewise Jackson had not studied law in college but had learned it as a law clerk] Ironically, Adams, while putting together his presidential cabinet, had considered Jackson for the position of Secretary of War (Jackson declined). 's inauguration When the results of the election were announced, a mob entered the White House, damaging the furniture and lights. Jackson escaped through the back and large punch bowls were set up to lure the crowd outside. Conservatives were horrified at this event, and held it up as a portent of terrible things to come from the first Democratic president. Andrew Jackson was sworn in as president on March 4, 1829. == See also ==