Andrew Jacksons Unruly Rise to the Presidency Essay

Andrew Jacksons Unruly Rise to the Presidency In what many have called the dirtiest presidential election ever, Andrew Jackson reigned supreme over John Quincy Adams in the election of 1828. For the first time in a political campaign, the main focus was to slander the reputation of the opponent. Issues seemed to be disregarded in favor of personal attacks upon the individual. The days of standing for office and remaining silent towards the American public before elections took place were over. The election of 1828 focused on insults, name calling, and heckling between the candidates and their parties. The War of 1812 threatened to destroy the young nations pride. Washington had been burned to the ground, the Hartford†¦show more content†¦In the following year this same group persuaded the legislature to elect him to the U.S. Senate--a gesture designed to demonstrate the extent of his popularity in his home state. The election of 1824 had failed to determine President James Monroes successor because the electoral b allots were split among four candidates, none of whom had a majority. According to the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, the House of Representatives was required to select the chief executive from among the three men with the highest electoral count. In 1824 these three included the Senator from Tennessee, Andrew Jackson, who had 99 electoral votes; the Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, with 84 electoral votes; and the Secretary of the Treasury, William H. Crawford, who received 41 electoral votes. Henry Clay, who was the fourth candidate, was eliminated since this total electoral count reached only 37 votes. Jackson also took a commanding 40,000 popular vote lead over the second highest candidate, John Adams. According to the followers of Adams, Jacksons candidacy was a terrible judgment in that an uneducated, untrained, uninformed, and inexperienced Indian fighter would attempt to challenge governmentally established gentlemen for the highest political office in t he nation. His opponents (both supporters of Adams and simply people against Jackson for personal reasons) first argued that he was incompetent by training and