In the summer of 1822, upon the urging of the Junto, the Tennessee legislature nominated Jackson for president. In 1823 they again elected him to the U.S. Senate to give him a national platform. In the Senate he followed the traditional Western position, voting for internal improvements financed by the federal government and for a high protective tariff (tax on imports).



Jackson's opponents were Secretary of State John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford of Georgia, and Speaker of the House Henry Clay of Kentucky. Jackson received 99 electoral votes; Adams, 84; Crawford, 41; and Clay, 37. Jackson also won pluralities in the states where the electors were chosen by the people, not by the legislature. The popular vote was 152,899 for Jackson, 105,321 for Adams, 47,265 for Clay, and 47,087 for Crawford.

However, because none of the candidates had a majority of the electoral votes, the election had to be decided by the House of Representatives. Each state had one vote, and only the top three candidates were eligible. On February 9, 1825, the House elected Adams president.



Adams had 13 votes, Jackson had 7, and Crawford had 4. Three Western states that had originally supported Clay switched to Adams. Later, when president-elect Adams named Clay secretary of state, Jackson's supporters accused them of making a "corrupt bargain." Jackson was determined to defeat Adams in the election of 1828, and now he felt he had an issue that would help him win.



The campaign for the 1828 presidential election began as soon as Adams was elected in 1824. As was the custom, Jackson returned to the Hermitage while his supporters campaigned actively in his behalf. In this campaign the real issues were quickly forgotten. Each side made vicious personal attacks on the other. Jackson maintained that the political manipulations that led to Adams's victory went against the popular will. Besides being a military hero, Jackson became a symbol of democratic reform, and a large segment of the populace looked to him for leadership in the struggle ahead.

In 1828 Jackson received 178 electoral votes to Adams's 83. Jackson also won a majority of the popular votes, 647,286 to 508,064. Jackson ran strongest in the West and South, while Adams's strength came in the Northeast, chiefly New England. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina was elected vice president.



President-elect Jackson's joy in defeating Adams was turned to bitterness by the death of his wife. Soon after the election, she died of a heart attack, which Jackson was convinced had been caused by grief over the slanders made against her during the campaign. At the funeral he said, "I can and do forgive all my enemies. But those vile wretches who have slandered her must look to God for mercy."

Jackson was almost 62 years old when he arrived in Washington, D.C., for his inauguration. Old wounds and a tubercular cough were causing him great pain, and he was still deep in mourning over the death of his wife. The outgoing administration greeted the new president coldly. Like his father, President John Adams, John Quincy Adams refused to attend his successor's inauguration.

Next--Final Chapter