Corrupt Bargain Election of 1824
The Electoral College came about in 1787 during the Constitutional Convention. However, all the delegates were not satisfied with the proposal and this led to a difference in opinions. In order to reach a compromise, it was finally decided that state electors would be given 2 votes each to elect the president and the candidate receiving the most votes would be chosen as the president of the country. While, the candidate coming in second would be chosen as the vice president. However, this voting process was not the best as 70-664 it had resulted in a tie between candidates in the election of 1800.
Hence, the 12th Amendment came about. The Amendment was put forth in 1803 and was ratified the following year, and this led to a change in the way the president and vice president were elected in the US. Due to the Amendment, delegates of various states were allowed 2 votes each, wherein one vote was for the president, and the other for electing the vice president.
As per the Amendment, the candidate who received most votes would be elected as the president provided he or she wins with an absolute majority. Otherwise, contingent elections had to be held again for 70-665choosing the president and vice president. While the House of Representatives would oversee the election of the president, the Senate would be responsible for electing the vice president. Also, it was stipulated that just the top three candidates would be eligible for the contingent elections.
The Presidential Election held in the US in 1824 is popularly referred to as the 'corrupt bargain of 1824'. In fact, the Electoral College system was criticized way back in 1803 and it is claimed that this system is the cause of the 'corrupt bargain of 1824'.
The two candidates involved in this incident were Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams. The other contestants in this election were Andrew Jackson and William H. Crawford. All the four contestants were Democratic Republicans. The contingent elections had to be held as Jackson had failed to win an absolute majority in spite of garnering the most popular votes and electoral votes.
In the 1824 elections, Henry Clay was deemed ineligible earlier for the microsoft Certification contingent election (conducted according to the earlier mentioned 12th Amendment of the US electoral process) as he received only 37 votes (which was the minimum required votes). Andrew Jackson secured 99 votes followed by John Quincy Adams who won 84 votes. This was followed by William H. Crawford who won 41 votes.
In 1825, the contingent election took place on February 9 wherein John Quincy Adams received 13 votes and was elected president. Andrew Jackson lost the election as he had secured only 7 votes. William H. Crawford secured just 4 votes. The supporters of Andrew Jackson then accused Adams stating that he had struck a microsoft corrupt bargain with Henry Clay. It was claimed that before the contingent election was held, Clay and Adams had met at the latter's residence to strike this deal as Clay had a lot of clout in the House of Representatives. Once Adam was elected president, Clay was appointed as the Secretary of State.