Democratic Political Campaigning following Thomas Jefferson
- Author Jack Sterling
- Published April 14, 2010
- Word count 579
The party founded by Thomas Jefferson had first come to power claiming itself as the "party of the people" during the political campaign. The presidents who had been elected by this party, however, owed perhaps less to the people than to a select group of men: the congressional Republican caucus (nominating committee).
Presidents Jefferson, Monroe and Madison represented a distinct type--Virginians and well-educated, wealthy men who had played a role in America since its founding. With Madison, Monroe and even President John Quincy Adams, a standard had been set. A politician would spend a certain amount of time serving in a presiden'ts cabinet, then essentially be selected by that president as his successor in the next political campaign.
With the election of Andrew Jackson after a political campaign in 1828, the party--and the presidency--entered a new phase. For one thing, voters played a greater role than ever before in ensuring the election of Jackson. Gradually, since 1810, the voting policies in states had been changing. In the oldest states, voting had been restricted to those who owned property of some sort or paid taxes.
As new states joined the Union, this began to change, and gradually one state after another began to shift its voting policies so that the right to vote was given to all white males over the age of 21.
This was an incredibly important shift. Once, presidents had been chosen based on connections and political campaign influence, but suddenly a candidate could appeal directly to the voters and voters could use their infulence to select the candidate that most appealed top them.
Political campaigning for election of 1824 began two years earlier, as various candidates began to position themselves to receive their party's nominations. At one point, there were as many as 16 potential candidates for the Republican Party's nomination. Gradually, they were whittled down to 6 and then to 4: Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, the former Federalist from Massachusetts; William Crawford, the secretary of the treasury; Henry Clay, the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and Andrew Jackson, the military hero who had bee elected as a senator from Tennessee.
The party that had been so disciplined in bringing Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe to office had lost its focus. Chaos reigned as competing interests lobbied for their chosen candidates in the upcoming presidential political campaign.
Without party organization supporting a particular candidate, the election campaign proved to be a mess. Voter turnout was very low, little more than 25 percent. Andrew Jackson led in both the electoral and popular votes, but by such a number that he failed to achieve the necessary majority of electoral votes. This meant that the election had to be decided in the House of Representatives.
According to the Constitution, only the leading three candidates were to be considered. Clay had received the fewest electoral votes, so he was eliminated. Crawford was suffering from a serious illness, misdiagnosed as a stroke, so he, too, was not considered in the House. The contest came down to John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson.
Clay was soon the focus of a different kind of political campaign: intense lobbying efforts by the backers of Adams and Jackson, who wanted his support for their candidates. Clay did not like Jackson, however, and did not think that he had the qualifications to serve as president. Clay met several times with Adams and ultimately gave his support (and his electoral votes) to Adams, who was then declared to be president.
Visit Killer Campaigning to learn more about local political campaigns.
Article source: https://articlebiz.comRate article
Article comments
There are no posted comments.
Related articles
- Out with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael: 230,000 Irish Children Living in Poverty
- Why Women of Color Need to Support Kamala Harris
- The Dark Reality of Forced Prison Labor: Why I Stand Behind Proposition 6
- Analyzing the Leadership Qualities of Abraham Lincoln during Crisis Situations and Racial Legal Issues: Studies
- Exploring the System of Checks and Balances Among the Three Branches of Government Machinery
- An Analysis of the Political Landscape in Guatemala and Its Impact on Regional Stability
- Gossip! How Caryma Sa'd convinced Jeremy Mackenzie to work for the RCMP
- Analyzing the Cultural and Historical Significance of Mongolia in Relation to Its Socio-Political Context
- Left, Right, and Ridiculous
- The Effect of Brexit on the UK Fishing Tackle Industry
- A Visionary Leader for Somalia's Future: Mohamed Said Deni's Path to the Presidency in 2026
- Potential 2024 Padang Pariaman Regent Candidates Form Three Axes: High Chances of Fierce Competition
- Russia Gate-How It Happened
- How the Manhattan D.A. is changing Politics in America
- How Corruption is Destroying Development in Africa
- What Happens if Houthi vs US Led Operations takes another turn involving Russia and China? Regional wide impact.
- Why America Needs More Moderate Republicans
- From Importer To Exporter: The Shifting Geopolitics Of U.S. Energy Policy
- The Dark Side of Globalization: Inequality, Conflict, and the Struggle for Resources
- Escalation in the Israel-Palestine Conflict: Unpacking the Recent Hamas Attack
- What Frosts My Nuts: The End Time Has Come
- What Frosts My Nuts: Nixon had Big Balls but not P.B.J.
- The 2024 presidential election is already over.
- The Clown King of East Africa
- The Concerning Power Play of New York's Attorney General: A Threat to Its Politician and New Yorkers
- Who has the Right to Control another Adult's Life Without their Consent?
- Can the Charter of Democracy Save Pakistan’s Imperiled Democracy?
- Is Iran in a revolutionary situation?
- Why We Must Be Masters of Our Counter Culture
- It is more Important than Ever that we Guard against Selfish and Criminal Charismatic Leaders.