While this year’s election could be historic, including the possibility of a third-party candidate winning a state and someone who has no prior political experience running for president, these all happened in an election before–in 1824.
The 1824 presidential election, which was the only one that was determined by the US House of Representatives and the only election where the candidate with the most electoral votes didn’t win, was one of the most impactful elections in US history. In addition to these two facts, the election also brought an end to an era in the US and helped to create the modern Democratic Party and modern campaigning.
It all started when John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay and William H. Crawford all vied for the presidency after the Democratic-Republican party–the dominant party at the time–could not decide on one of the men to be the party’s representative. So, they all ran against each other, but were effectively from the same party.
“No one never got enough votes to win the election and it happened because there were so many candidates,” Westfield State University political sciences professor Dr. David Smailes said. “Each had a lot of regional support so the electors decided to vote for the person from their region.”
This regionalization of votes provided each of the four men with electoral college votes, Smailes said, but none with the required 50 percent-plus 1 percent necessary to win the election.
So, history had to be made.
Smailes said that the vote went to the House of Representatives who, according to the 12th Amendment, must decide the winner of the election in this circumstance. The House had to choose from the three candidates with the most electoral votes, which meant that Clay was out of the running, leaving Adams, Jackson and Crawford.
Adams was chosen overwhelming, Smailes said, with 13 states choosing him as president, which was six more than runner-up Jackson’s total.
However, just like how Donald Trump said he may not accept the results, Jackson was bitter and felt there was collusion behind the votes, as well. Additionally, like Trump, Jackson was a candidate with no prior political experience, instead coming from a background of being a war hero. While this may seem like a common role of other Presidents like Dwight D. Eisenhower and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, at the time it was unheard of, Smailes said.
“Jackson for a couple different reasons felt this was stolen from him,” Smailes said. “He got the most popular votes and most electoral votes, and as far as Jackson was concerned the House should have chosen him.
“So when he wasn’t chosen he felt there was some sort of back door deal, and while it was never proven it probably was true.”
Smailes said that Clay chose to put his support behind Adams, which angered Jackson and had a possible impact on the vote. This is because Clay, in addition to receiving support from several states in the general election, was also the Speaker of the House and could have influenced the other representatives to vote for Adams.
Later Clay was named Secretary of State by Adams, which essentially proved Jackson right.
Smailes said that while the voting from the state representatives had to be public, no reason had to be given. This meant that there was no way to tell concretely that a backroom deal had been done. However, how everything played out Jackson couldn’t help but feel this way.
“It had the odor of being a backroom deal, and Jackson was convinced it was stolen from right underneath him,” Smailes said.
Following this, Smailes said Jackson essentially went on a four-year tour to try and drum up support for his election in 1828. This action essentially created the modern campaigning system, where candidates travel the country and speak to voters, attend functions and many other activities to draw support.
This push and frustration from Jackson not only created the modern campaign, though.
Smailes said that because of Jackson’s initiatives, the modern Democratic Party also came to be.
“This is why when the democrats celebrate their party they have Jefferson-Jackson dinners,” Smailes said.
The Whig Party also came out of this election, but did not field a candidate in the 1828 election. This party was headed by Clay and helped build the multiple party system in the US that still exists today.
So when you think that this year’s election is like no other, you might want to consider the election of 1824.
NOTE: This is part of a series of stories on historical presidential elections, as we prepare for our own historical election.
