Sold – Presidential Candidate John Quincy Adams Describes His Vision of the Presidency

Presidential candidates were initially nominated by caucus, a private meeting of party leaders, rather than by convention or primary. This system had been under fire for years as being undemocratic, and the issue reached its peak in 1824. That year there were several candidates as serious contenders. The official caucus-selected Democratic-Republican candidate, William H. Crawford, lacked the backing of much of the party, which preferred Andrew Jackson. Challenging Crawford and Jackson were opposition candidates Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams.

James Tallmadge (1778-1853) was a former Congressman who in 1824 was a member of the New York State Assembly. He advocated having presidential electors chosen by the people rather than state legislatures, and submitted a bill to that effect in August 1824. In 1825 he became lieutenant-governor of New York. With so many candidates it was clear early in 1824 that no single one might receive enough electoral votes to win, and questions arose about agreements between candidates should no one prevail and the issue be thrown into the House of Representatives.

Tallmadge wrote to the two principal candidates, Adams and Jackson, asking them for their opinions on these questions.

John Quincy Adams Autograph Letter Signed to Tallmadge, 1 1/2 pages 4to, Washington, March 12, 1824. “I rec’d. this day your favor of the 6th inst. and answer it immediately to offer you my best acknowledgements for the friendly sentiments towards me manifested in it. With regard to the necessity for concentrating opinions, and to the alternative suggested by you as practicable, I feel it to be a subject for the decision of others and not of me. From information which I possess, I entertain no doubt that if the vote of New York should be given as you say it can be, and in the order of names for the two offices, first expressed by you (Adams and Jackson), the election will be completed by the electoral colleges, and no resort to the House of Representatives will be necessary. But as I have not the power to transfer to any other person a single vote which I have reason to expect will be given to myself, so in justice to my friends and to the country, I can under no circumstances whatever consent to such transfer. I have given this answer to similar propositions from elsewhere and must repeat it now. Prepared to submit with cheerfulness to any determination which the people speaking through their constitutional organs may pronounce on the interesting question before them, I shall only reserve to myself the right of acting under any event according to my own sense of duty, and cherish the hope that the issue may be satisfactory to our country, and promotive of her peace and prosperity. With reference to all possible concentrations, having nothing to offer, I have nothing to ask but that the pretensions of others as well as mine should be weighed upon public principles alone, and that the preponderating motive for every electoral vote may be fitness for the place, rather than friendship for the man…”

With the integral free franked address leaf. Adams was considered a man of integrity and principle, and this letter shows that the good of the country was his main concern, and that he wanted the campaign to be about issues not personalities. When the popular votes were counted, Jackson led both in the popular vote and the Electoral College. However, he did not have a majority of the electoral votes, so the House of Representatives had to choose the President from among the top three electoral vote getters: Jackson, Adams and Crawford. The also-ran, Clay, happened to be the Speaker of the House and was very influential there. He strongly endorsed Adams and his supporters followed, making Adams president.