Corrupt Bargain Election of 1824

Electoral College
The President and the Vice President of the United States are elected indirectly by the Electoral College that was proposed by the Constitutional Convention held in the year 1787. The Convention witnessed the difference in opinion among delegates who were divided on the process of electing the President and the Vice President. Some delegates favored direct election by the masses, while others feared that people, who may not have sufficient understanding of the qualifications and character of the candidates, may end up electing the wrong contestant. A compromise was reached by proposing to elect the chief executive officer of the nation by electors appointed by each state in accordance with the legislature. The electors would then gather in their respective states to cast their votes. Each elector was allowed to cast 2 votes and the candidate receiving the maximum number of votes was elected as the President and the runner up was elected as the Vice President. The Federal principle of the process of elections was acknowledged by allowing a select group of representatives to cast their vote on behalf of the people.

Contingent Elections
The 12th Amendment proposed in the year 1803 and ratified in 1804 revised the election process, by allowing the electors to cast one vote for the President and one for the Vice President, as against the original process of allowing electors to cast 2 votes each for different candidates, since the older system had resulted in a tie between the candidates, belonging to the same party, in the Presidential elections held in the year 1800. Again, the candidate who got the maximum number of votes was elected as the President. In case no candidate had a clear majority, it was decided that, contingent elections would be held wherein the President would be elected by the House of Representatives, while the Senate would be entrusted with the task of electing the Vice President. The President would be elected from among the top three candidates receiving the maximum votes in the Electoral College.

The Electoral College system has been the subject of criticism as early as 1803. Again, it was blamed for the outcome of the 1824 elections, better known, as the corrupt bargain of 1824.

Corrupt Bargain of 1824
The 1824 Presidential elections came to be known as the, 'corrupt bargain of 1824', between John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay. The main contestants of the 1824 elections were: Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, William H. Crawford and Henry Clay, all of them being Democratic Republicans. Henry Clay, who had been disqualified from the contingent election process in accordance with the 12th Amendment, had received the minimum number of votes (37). Jackson, Adams and Crawford received 99, 84 and 41 votes respectively. Although Andrew Jackson received the plurality of the electoral votes (as well as the popular votes) he did not have a clear majority. On February 9, 1825, a contingent election was conducted with the House electing John Quincy Adams as President over Andrew Jackson by a vote of 13 states to 7, with an additional 4 states voting for William H. Crawford. Jackson’s supporters accused John Quincy Adams of striking a corrupt bargain with Henry Clay who wielded significant power in the House of Representatives. It is believed that prior to the contingent elections, the two met at John Quincy Adams’ residence. After being elected President, Adams named Clay as his secretary of state; a position that was often referred to as the stepping-stone to Presidency.