Could JQ Adams have clearly won in 1824?

[Derek Jackson]

In otl Adams seems to have had less support than Andrew Jackson. Could he have done better? For instance would he have been helped in Clay decided to postpone his run for the Presidency?

If Adams election looked more legitimate would he have beaten Jackson in 1828?

 

[Nofix]

I posted a long post about how Jackson almost backed Adams in the election. Short version is Secretary of State Adams backed Jackson's invasion of Florida while most of the Monroe Cabinet hated Jackson and wanted him punished. Adams argued on his behalf and arranged the purchase of Florida. Jackson almost retired from politics entirely after the short lived military governorship.

Instead, to prevent an enemy to be sent their, his allies in the Tennessee Legislature elected him Senator which snowballed into his campaign for the Presidency and political atmosphere for the next quarter century. Remove Jackson from the Senate and he'll likely back Adams, who he still liked before then, and boom: President Adams with a convincing majority.

 

[Emperor Julian]

Instead, to prevent an enemy to be sent their, his allies in the Tennessee Legislature elected him Senator which snowballed into his campaign for the Presidency and political atmosphere for the next quarter century. Remove Jackson from the Senate and he'll likely back Adams, who he still liked before then, and boom: President Adams with a convincing majority.

Could we see a Vice President Jackson, or Jackson as Secretary of War or something in this scenario?

 

[Nofix]

Could we see a Vice President Jackson, or Jackson as Secretary of War or something in this scenario?

I think Jackson would just want to retire to his plantation at that point. With a lovely little wife and The Hermitage being rather well funded and expanded, why return to the cutthroat world of politics? He might go and campaign for Adams but probably wouldn't do much else if he could avoid it.

 

[The Uchronian]

In otl Adams seems to have had less support than Andrew Jackson. Could he have done better? For instance would he have been helped in Clay decided to postpone his run for the Presidency?

If Adams election looked more legitimate would he have beaten Jackson in 1828?

Remarkably, Adams almost won electorally IOTL, and a few changes might have put him over the edge. In The 1828 Shuffle, I created a scenario in which Henry Clay ran as a third-party "spoiler" candidate; of course, Clay didn't have a real chance of winning himself, but he had enough of an impact to deny Jackson the Oval Office(Clay would later become President himself).

 

[Stolengood]

Instead, to prevent an enemy to be sent their, his allies in the Tennessee Legislature elected him Senator which snowballed into his campaign for the Presidency and political atmosphere for the next quarter century. Remove Jackson from the Senate and he'll likely back Adams, who he still liked before then, and boom: President Adams with a convincing majority.

More precisely, here is the reason:

In 1823, [Tennessean Senator John] Williams made it clear that he was going to support William H. Crawford (another enemy of Jackson) for the presidency, leading Jackson's allies in Tennessee to seek Williams' removal from the Senate.[3]:35–6 When they were unable to find a candidate with enough support to defeat Williams, Jackson agreed to become a candidate for Williams' seat.[3]:36 Though Williams had the support of the influential Knoxville Register[6] and rising politician Davy Crockett,[7] he lost to Jackson by a margin of 35 votes to 25 at a contentious meeting of the state legislature on October 1, 1823.[3]:36

Basically, either have Crawford not run, have Williams support somebody else, or have the state legislature vote go the other way; three perfectly good potential PODS.

 

[Dirk_Pitt]

This is very easy.

Jackson takes a cannon ball to the face in the Battle of New Orleans. He can't survive that, can he?

 

[DominusNovus]

This is very easy.

Jackson takes a cannon ball to the face in the Battle of New Orleans. He can't survive that, can he?

Thats a tough question...

Anyway, I think that there could be some key electoral shifts that could occur around the margins in various states that could result in a convincing victory.

 

[dmg86]

Allegedly according to a book on Presidential elections some people wanted Jackson to be Adams Vice President in 1824.

 

[Nofix]

I was wondering if Clay resigned would that help Adams very much? Back in 1824 he was more of a "western" candidate then he was the "American System" candidate, so him dropping out might not correlate to all of his votes going to Adams. Clay polled well in Indiana (which he lost to Jackson), Missouri (who rewarded him for assisting them coming into the Union), Ohio (where he snagged victory from Jackson), and of course his native Kentucky (where he won in a landslide).

Clay would still be Speaker in the likely scenario it goes to the House, Adams might win the plurality of both popular and electoral votes, and I'm certain he'd still appoint Clay as Secretary of State. Assuming all that, would the same myth of a "Corrupt Bargain" appear without the edge of Adams losing the popular vote?

 

[David T]

Remarkably, Adams almost won electorally IOTL, and a few changes might have put him over the edge. In The 1828 Shuffle, I created a scenario in which Henry Clay ran as a third-party "spoiler" candidate; of course, Clay didn't have a real chance of winning himself, but he had enough of an impact to deny Jackson the Oval Office(Clay would later become President himself).

I agree that it is conceivable that Adams could win again in 1828. See my post at https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=299545

However, there is no way Clay is going to run as a third party candidate; his acceptance of the Secretaryship of State irrevocably linked him to Adams in the popular mind (the "corrupt bargain"). If he did, he would take more votes away from Adams then from Jackson, given that both Adams and Clay favored an activist federal government and that both were hated by the Jacksonians. Any split between Adams and Clay would be dismissed by the Jacksonians as thieves falling out...