A Look Into History: U.S. Presidential Election of 1832

The 1832 election saw Jackson's attempt to get a 2nd term as president. He ran on the Democratic party ticket. 

Former Speaker of the House, and then-Senator Henry Clay became the National Republican nominee. His successful attempt to deny Jackson his first presidential win 8 years before brought this election into a fitting political battle.

 William Wirt also ran on the Anti-Masonry party. They were a single-issue party who were opposed to the Freemason society.

 John Floyd was also listed as a nominee for the Nullifier party, a short-lived states rights party.

The main issue of the campaign was against Jackson's veto against the renewing the charter for the 2nd Bank of the United States (similar to the present Federal Reserve) with him being portrayed as being "too powerful". Jackson denied this and went on a platform about protecting citizens from being ruled by a rich elite within the 2nd Bank of the United States.

Despite some strong tactics by Clay, it was an almost all out win for Jackson. Jackson had 219 electoral votes versus Clay's 49. Floyd got 11, and Wirt got 7 which is admirable for distant 3rd parties.

A Look Into History: U.S. Presidential Election of 1828

John Q. Adams ran again to seek a 2nd term after being made president thanks to Anti-Jackson politicians in the House of Representatives.

Shortly after Adams term begun, Jackson was practically nominated with no challenger to take Adams on again. Adams was also nominated with no formal process.

The Democratic-Republican party by this time pretty much spilt in two. The ones who supported Jackson called themselves Democrats, and thus formed the party that stands today. Those who supported Adams became the National Republicans which later turned into the Whig Party.

Ironically Adam's Vice President John C. Calhoun did not become his running mate. He joined Jackson's ticket and became a Democrat.

 Secretary of the Treasury Richard Rush became Adam's running mate.

This election marked the first major event of mudslinging in presidential politics. Adams' campaign pressed the issue of Jackson's marriage to his wife not being legal since there was trouble of getting a final divorce from her first marriage. Jackson's campaign fired back with accusations of governmental corruption committed personally by Adams.

Regardless of campaign tactics, it was a clear-cut victory for Jackson. Jackson carried 56% of the popular vote, 178 electoral votes, and 15 states. Adams had only 43.6% of the popular vote, 83 electoral votes, and carried only 9 states.

A Look Into History: U.S. Presidential Election of 1824

The election of 1824 saw the spilt between the Democratic-Republican party with the nomination of 4 candidates. The first was John Q. Adams who was the son of the 2nd President, and the then-current Secretary of State. 

Running against him first was General Andrew Jackson, who was the hero of the War of 1812. 

 Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford also ran.

Lastly Speaker of the House Henry Clay ran as well. 

 

The funny thing was that all 4 candidates spilt the vote in certain areas. Jackson got 99 electoral votes, Adams had 84, Crawford 41, and Clay 37. Someone needed 131 votes total to win the election thus the results were put on hold.

The vote officially moved to the House of Representatives. Jackson strolled up and expected to win easy since he had the clear advantage in the general election. However Henry Clay was ousted from the vote, and used his power as Speaker of the House to influence the vote to give Adams the presidency. Let's just say Jackson was not happy.