Who won the presidential election of 1824?

1 Answer
Jan 16, 2017

John Quincy Adams

Explanation:

Though it occurred right after the "Era of good feelings" the election of 1824 was quite contentious. Though several people ran, the race came down between Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams.

Andrew Jackson had become extremely popular amongst the common people of the United States because of his heroism as a general in the War of 1812. He ran against John Quincy Adams, a former Secretary of State, and son of a former president John Adams. Also running was Henry Clay, an immensely important politician of the time. Though he ran for president several times; would never hold the office.

Eventhough Andrew Jackson was so popular, no one candidate had enough of a majority of the electoral college for the election to be called. This was because there were several candidates Andrew Jackson did have more electoral votes than any other of the candidates, but it was not the majority. So, the election went to the House of Representatives.

After the election had gone to the house, Henry Clay dropped out of the race. He also supported Adams after leaving the race. Because of this the house voted in Adams. Jackson was more popular than any of the other candidates, but had still lost. This lead to many referring to what occurred in the House of Representatives as a "corrupt bargain".

The election of 1824 saw John Quincy Adams becoming the 6th President of the United States. As well, he was also the first son of a former president. No son of a former president would take the office until 2001 when George W. Bush Jr. became the 2nd person to do so.

The talk of the "corrupt bargain" would drum up quite a bit of opposition to Adams, and bolster support for Jackson. Because of this Adams only served one term as president. Jackson's supporters would form the "Jacksonian Democrats". This group would go on until today as the democratic party.