AS

Election and Campaign

The Election of 1824

  • Jackson won the most votes (unexpected)
  • but, no one had an electoral majority
  • decision led to the House of Representatives
    • John Quincy Adams (son of 2nd president) used experience and influence to win the House vote
  • Jackson: “a corrupt bargain”
  • led to a nasty rematch in 1828

1828 Presidential Campaign

  • nasty rematch, both sides went negative
  • Adams campaigned on internal improvement (infrastructure)
  • Jackson ran mainly on his cult of personality
    • champion of the common man
    • attacked Adams as elitist and Washington DC insider
    • allies made brutal personal attacks

The Campaign of 1828: Adams

  • Adams and allies attacked Jackson’s character
    • impulsive
    • irresponsible and immoral
    • violent
  • most famously in “The Coffins Handbills”
  • attacked Jackson’s marriage to Rachel Donelson
    • lived together before her divorce
  • scandal + loss of son in 1828 + poor health
    • Rachel died of heart attack, 1828
    • Jackson blamed Adams and other rivals