PRESIDENTIAL FEUDS, PART I
An even more-bitter feud developed between John Quincy Adams (left), son of John Adams, and Andrew Jackson (right). John Quincy Adams was Secretary of State and Andrew Jackson was the hero of the Battle of New Orleans. Adams even held a dinner in Jackson’s honor. In 1824, they both ran for President.
The result of the four-way race was that no candidate had a majority in the Electoral College, although Jackson had finished ahead in both popular and electoral votes. It fell to the House of Representatives to choose the winner, and they chose Adams. Jackson's followers felt a deal had been made between Adams and Henry Clay (who had finished fourth and was ineligible) who as Speaker of the House had a great deal of influence over the voting. When Clay became Adams’ Secretary of State, Jackson’s followers cried foul and claimed a “corrupt bargain” had been made. They spent the next four years making sure that nothing of importance was accomplished by the Adams administration in preparation for the rematch in 1828. They also succeeded in making Adams’ term extremely uncomfortable and unsatisfying.
The election of 1828 was one of the nastiest in our history. Adams’ followers (though not Adams himself) attacked Jackson and his wife on very personal terms. Jackson and his wife had been married before her divorce had become final due to the poor communications on the frontier where they lived. When they discovered their mistake, they were married again. Throughout his career, his opponents tried to trigger his well-known temper by attacking his wife’s character, accusing her of bigamy and adultery. In this election, she became the favorite target of the opposition on a national level. The attacks on her became so vicious and frequent that her health was affected. The strain of the humiliation weakened Mrs. Jackson, and she died of a heart attack between Jackson’s victory and his inauguration. Jackson blamed his political opponents for her death and never forgave them. One result was that Jackson removed from office as many members of the opposition party as possible and replaced them with his loyal followers. This extreme use of patronage became known as the Spoils System.
For his part, Adams was as hurt and upset by his defeat in the election of 1828 as his father had been in 1800. Like his father, he left Washington the night before the inauguration of his successor.
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