Clay disliked Adams, but the two met privately a month before the House election. Both men denied making any bargains. But rumors said that Adams had promised to make Clay secretary of state. As the vote neared, Clay worked hard for Adams. He won over some Western representatives whose states had voted solidly for Jackson. He even promised the votes of his own Kentucky, which had not cast a single popular vote for the Yankee Adams.
The House met to vote on February 9, After more than a month of arm twisting and bargaining, John Quincy Adams took exactly the 13 states he needed to win, Jackson won seven, and Crawford four. The public galleries in the house broke into such an uproar of booing and hissing that Speaker Clay ordered them cleared.
Three days later, the new president nominated Henry Clay as his secretary of state. Charges of making a "corrupt bargain" would dog Henry Clay for the rest of his life. The Jackson supporters were furious. After all, he had won by far the largest share of popular votes with 42 percent.
Jackson immediately declared that he would run in And he became the first major American politician to call for eliminating the Electoral College and electing the president directly by popular vote. Grolier Online: The American Presidency, Presidential Elections This in-depth description of American presidential elections discusses and places in historical context the issues of the qualifications for candidacy, the development of presidential campaigning, past election outcomes, debates, campaign financing, and presidential succession.
Election of Great collection of links on this election. Election of Summary of the election. From U-S-History. Election of By Brian Whitmer. Elections Affected by the Electoral College Summaries of the elections of , , , and From the U. Electoral College Web Zine.
Prospects for the Electoral College After Election Overview of the electoral-college debate and disputed elections in U. From Social Education. Map of the Presidential Election of Andrew Jackson Biography including the story of the election. From the State Library of North Carolina. Andrew Jackson Slide presentation. By Mr. Jacksonian Democracy Another slide show. Election of Electoral College Details Information on each candidate and state in the electoral college. From the Political Graveyard.
From the House of Representatives. From the National Archives. Major Election Laws The laws that covered the election. In his book America Religious Fervor, Western Expansion and the Presidential Election That Transformed the Nation , reviewed here , author John Bicknell offers some interesting speculation about what a Henry Clay presidency might have meant for the nation. At page of his book, Bicknell calls Clay "the great 'what if' of American political history", and makes the observation that Clay was better as a policy maker than as a politician.
Bicknell makes the case that American history would have been "drastically altered" if Clay had won the election of The differences that a Clay administration would have meant for the nation probably would have included the following: 1. There would have been no immediate annexation of Texas. Though Texas would have joined the union eventually, it was more likely that Clay would have negotiated with Mexico instead of going to war.
Negotiation with Mexico would have meant that the land acquired in the Mexican War would have remained part of Mexico. In turn however, the question of whether the territories acquired in the war should be free or slave territory would not have arisen.
Without California joining the union, the Compromise of would not likely not have been necessary and therefore the Fugitive Slave Act would also not have been passed. No Mexican War would have meant no "Wilmot Proposal" the controversial which proposed that slavery would be banned in the land acquired in the war.
In turn, the Kansas-Nebraska Act might not have been passed and the tragedy of "Bleeding Kansas" might have been averted. Texas and California would likely have transitioned to independence from Mexico and then ultimately joined the United States because of their mutual interests.
While western expansionism would have proceeded, it would have occurred at a slower pace. This may have effected how native Americans were ultimately treated by the US government. On this point, the author is more cautious in proposing that things would have unfolded much differently, noting that the coming of the railroad played a huge part in how this history played out. Bicknell notes, at page "Clay believed the country as it existed in was big enough, and his policies in supported that belief.
Clay was admitted to the Virginia bar in and moved to Lexington, Kentucky, to open a law practice. In Kentucky, he quickly established himself as one of the state's leading attorneys and began to pursue a political career. He was selected to finish unfulfilled Senate terms in and and, in between these brief tenures, served in the Kentucky state legislature.
In , he was elected to the U. House of Representatives and, on his first day there in November , he was elected Speaker of the House. Previously the Speaker had primarily been a position to keep order and enforce rules, but Clay transformed it into a position of power. As leader of the Democratic-Republicans, he helped pressure James Madison into declaring war on Britain in In , he resigned from the House to serve as one of the peace commissioners to negotiate a treaty with Britain to end the War of Upon his return to Congress, he was reelected Speaker and served in that capacity for nine more years.
Clay ran for President in and played a pivotal part in the controversial election. Andrew Jackson finished first in the initial round of voting but failed to capture a majority of electoral votes, meaning the House was charged with deciding the election. Clay threw his support behind second-place finisher John Quincy Adams and helped build support for him in Congress. Adams won the election and named Clay his secretary of state shortly thereafter.
Many partisans suspected Adams and Clay had made a "corrupt bargain. Secretary Clay's primary accomplishment was work on a number of commercial treaties, including agreements with a number of Latin American countries who had recently gained independence. He attempted to arrange U. He also sought to address lingering disputes with Mexico and Britain, but encountered frustrations in these endeavors as well. While his term as secretary appeared relatively undistinguished, Clay's emphasis on the economic interests of the country was a theme that would become an increasingly important part of U.
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