Peirspictiochtai Ar An Saol
Democracy Is At Stake
Part Four
Henry Clay. (The engraving was produced by Peter Maverick and was provided courtesy of the Library of Congress, 1822.)
In July and September, Peirspictiochtai Ar An Saol noted how news media reports have been repeating a mantra that our democracy is threatened. That American democracy is at stake. That we have never faced such a situation.
These news media reports have continued in the weeks since.
The United States of America has faced situations before when election results were, let us say, "questionable."
As an example, imagine if an American citizen won the popular vote for President of the United States and that that same American citizen won more votes in the Electoral College than any other candidate. Yet, that American citizen did not become President of the United States.
Impossible?
No. This scenario has actually occurred.
It may be useful to consider what happened 200 years ago – what happened in 1824 and 1825 during the election of the President of the United States.
Andrew Jackson of Tennessee won more votes from the public than any of the other candidates for President of the United States in the election of 1824.
Andrew Jackson had more votes in the Electoral College than any of the other candidates for President of the United States in the election of 1824.
Yet it was John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts who became President of the United States in 1825.
Some background:
There were four major candidates for President of the United States in the 1824 election: Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, William Crawford of Georgia, and Henry Clay of Kentucky.
While the Library of Congress and other sources have different vote totals, the order of vote totals remained the same regardless of the source: Andrew Jackson won the popular vote, with John Quincy Adams coming in second in the number of votes from the public. Henry Clay was third in vote totals from the public, while William Crawford was in fourth place in votes from the public.
According to the Library of Congress, Andrew Jackson won 99 votes in the Electoral College, John Quincy Adams won 84 votes, William Crawford won 41 votes, and Henry Clay won 37 votes in the Electoral College.
The Morning Post of London reported similar results in its edition dated January 20, 1825. This news article also included the results of the individual meetings of the state electors of the Electoral College. This British newspaper referenced an unknown American newspaper that reported the following results on December 23, 1824:
All electors from Alabama, Indiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Tennessee voted for Andrew Jackson. In addition, electors from Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, and New York also voted for Andrew Jackson. A total of 99 electors voted for Andrew Jackson.
All electors from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and Vermont voted for John Quincy Adams. In addition, electors from Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, and New York also voted for John Quincy Adams. A total of 84 electors voted for John Quincy Adams.
All electors from Georgia and Virginia voted for William Crawford. In addition, electors from Delaware, Maryland, and New York also voted for William Crawford. A total of 41 electors voted for William Crawford.
All electors from Kentucky, Missouri, and Ohio voted for Henry Clay. In addition, electors from New York also voted for Henry Clay. A total of 37 electors voted for Henry Clay.
While Andrew Jackson won more votes from the public than any other candidate and while he secured more votes in the Electoral College than any other candidate, in neither case did he win an absolute majority of the votes.
As such, the vote to elect the President of the United States was decided by the state delegations in the House of Representatives. The choice for the Representatives was among the top three candidates in the Electoral College – Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and William Crawford. Henry Clay, because he came in fourth place in the Electoral College, was not considered as a candidate for President of the United States by the members of the House of Representatives.
While Henry Clay was not a candidate, he had a major role in this election for President of the United States.
Henry Clay was the Speaker of the House of Representatives at the time of this Presidential election.
Rather than selecting the candidate with the most votes – whether that be popular votes or votes in the Electoral College – the state delegations in the House of Representatives chose a different path.
The House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams as President of the United States on February 9, 1825.
Please note that that date is not incorrect. Americans did not know who won the 1824 Presidential election for several months. The man elected President of the United States at that time took office on the following March 4, upwards of four months after the Presidential election.
A number of people at the time saw corruption as the reason for the selection of John Quincy Adams.
On February 10, 1825, The Charleston Mercury of South Carolina included an editorial reprinted from the Richmond Whig of Virginia dated February 4, 1825. A few points in this editorial:
"The friends of [Andrew] Jackson were enraged at a determination which rendered his election, on which they were counting as securely as if it already happened, more than problematical."
"The gentlemen did not wait for the evidence of this corrupt combination – they assumed the fact as granted..."
The editorial from the Richmond Whig referenced an anonymous letter to the editor that had been published previously in the Columbian Observer of Philadelphia on January 25, 1825. The Charleston Mercury indicated that this letter to the editor was from "...a member of Congress from Pennsylvania, who is understood to be the Mr. [George] Kremer..."
A portion of that letter to the editor included comments regarding a "barter and sale" where Henry Clay would support John Quincy Adams or Andrew Jackson, depending on "...who would pay best." In this case, the "price" would be appointment as Secretary of State.
The letter to the editor stated that "No alarm was excited – we believed the Republic was safe – The Nation having delivered Jackson into the hands of Congress, backed by a large majority of their votes, there was on my mind no doubt that the Congress would respond to the will of the Nation by electing the individual they had declared to be their choice."
"Contrary to this expectation, it is now ascertained to a certainty, that Henry Clay has transferred his interest to John Quincy Adams," the letter to the editor continued. "As a consideration for this abandonment of duty to his constituents, it is said and believed, should this unholy coalition prevail, Clay is to be appointed Secretary of State."
A response from Henry Clay was also included in the editorial from The Charleston Mercury. In reference to the letter to the editor published in the Columbian Observer, Henry Clay made the following points in his reply that was initially printed in the Daily National Intelligencer of Washington, DC, on January 31, 1825.
"I believe it [the letter to the editor] to be a forgery; but if genuine, I pronounce the member, whoever he may be, a base and infamous calumniator, a dastard, and a liar; and if he dare unveil himself and avow his name, I will hold myself responsible, as here I admit myself to be, to all the laws which govern and regulate the conduct of men of honor."
On February 10, 1825, the Daily National Intelligencer reported the results of the election held the day before in the House of Representatives: "John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, was yesterday elected President of the United States, for four years, to commence on the 4th day of March next, when the present term of Mr. [President James] Monroe's Administration will have expired."
In this news article, the Daily National Intelligencer reported the results of the vote in the House of Representatives: John Quincy Adams, 13 votes; Andrew Jackson, 7 votes; and William Crawford, 4 votes.
Please note that each state delegation in the House of Representatives had one vote. There were 24 states in the country as of the election.
The state delegations that voted for John Quincy Adams were Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
The state delegations that voted for Andrew Jackson were Alabama, Indiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
The state delegations that voted for William Crawford were Delaware, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia.
Please note that the Office of the Historian of the Department of State of the United States indicated that the legislature of the Commonwealth of Kentucky had instructed its Congressional delegation – including Henry Clay – to vote for Andrew Jackson.
Henry Clay disregarded those instructions.
On March 4, 1825, John Quincy Adams took the oath of office as President of the United States of America.
On March 5, 1825, President John Quincy Adams nominated Henry Clay to Secretary of State of the United States, according to a news article in The Philadelphia Inquirer dated March 8, 1825.
On March 7, 1825, the United States Senate voted 27 to 14, according to page 441 of the Senate Executive Journal, to confirm Henry Clay as Secretary of State of the United States.
"Clay's appointment as Secretary of State stirred controversy," according to a statement from the Office of the Historian of the Department of State of the United States. "His bid for the Presidency in the election of 1824 ended with no clear majority for any candidate. Clay lent his support to John Quincy Adams instead of Andrew Jackson, thereby violating the instructions of the Kentucky legislature. Adams was then selected as President by the House of Representatives."
"Due to the informal precedent that the Secretary of State would eventually assume the presidency, Jackson supporters portrayed Clay's subsequent appointment as Secretary of State as a 'corrupt bargain,'" the statement continued. "Nonetheless, Clay had diplomatic experience and an agenda to pursue as Secretary of State."
Almost 200 years after the election of John Quincy Adams as President and the nomination and confirmation of Henry Clay as Secretary of State, the United States of America endures. Notwithstanding the "questionable" election results from years ago.
Peirspictiochtai Ar An Saol – Gaelic – Irish – for "Perspectives On Life" is a column focused on aspects of accountability and responsibility as well as ways people look at life.
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