The House Picks a President
On this day · 9 February 1825
When no candidate won an electoral majority in 1824, the U.S. House did something it has done only twice: choose the president itself.
The 1824 race shattered the old party system, leaving four candidates splitting the vote. Andrew Jackson led with 99 electoral votes and the most popular votes, but fell short of the majority needed to win. Adams trailed with 84, William Crawford took 41, and Speaker Henry Clay finished fourth with 37.
Under the Twelfth Amendment, the decision passed to the House of Representatives, which could choose only among the top three finishers. Each state delegation cast a single vote, no matter its size. On February 9, 1825, the House elected John Quincy Adams on the very first ballot, with 13 of the 24 states backing him to Jackson’s seven.
Clay, eliminated from the contest, had thrown his support behind Adams. When the new president then named Clay his Secretary of State, Jackson’s furious allies branded the deal a “Corrupt Bargain.”
Jackson won the most votes in 1824 yet lost the presidency in a single House ballot.
Sources & references
3 referencesWell-established. Corroborated by 3 independent sources.
