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Three events in American political history have been called [citation needed] a corrupt bargain: the 1824 United States presidential election, the Compromise of 1877, and Gerald Ford's 1974 pardon of Richard Nixon. In all cases, Congress or the President acted against the most clearly defined legal course of action at the time, although in no ...
The 1824 presidential election marked the final collapse of the Republican-Federalist political framework. The electoral map confirmed the candidates' sectional support, with Adams winning in New England, Jackson having wide voter appeal, Clay attracting votes from the West, and Crawford attracting votes from the eastern South.
Clay had performed some maneuvering that played a role in Adams gaining the election, and Adams appointed Clay as secretary of state. Jackson accused Clay of working with Adams to gain the secretary of state office, and referred to the election as a "corrupt bargain". [36]
Kentucky, Missouri, and Ohio all favored Clay in the Electoral College but Adams in the House. (The rules for contingent elections allowed only the top three in the electoral vote to advance, leaving Clay out. He threw his support to Adams, who later named Clay his secretary of state. Jackson partisans labeled this a "corrupt bargain.") [7] [8] [9]
Jackson won a plurality of the popular and electoral vote in the 1824 election, but not a majority. The House of Representatives had to decide. Speaker Clay supported Adams, who was elected as president by the House, and Clay was appointed Secretary of State. Jackson called it a "corrupt bargain". [21]
In 1824, the country was emerging from a period of broad political unity, with the presidential election presaging the factionalism that would define American politics up to the Civil War.
Contested elections in American history at the presidential level involve serious allegations by top officials that the election was "stolen." Such allegations appeared in 1824, 1876, 1912, 1960, [ 1 ] 2000, and 2020.
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