Many of Calhoun's
partisans refused to attend this caucus, and the vote was a close
one (57 to 53). [Footnote: Ravenel, William Lowndes, chap, x.;
Adams, Memoirs, V., 468, 470; National Intelligencer, January 19,
1822.] Lowndes was a wealthy South Carolina planter, judicious and
dispassionate, with a reputation for fair-mindedness and wisdom that
gained him the respect of his foes as well as his friends. According
to tradition, Clay once declared that among the many men he had
known he found it difficult to decide who was the greatest, but
added, "I think the wisest man I ever knew was William
Lowndes."[Footnote: Ravenel, William Lowndes, 238.] His death, in
less than a year, removed from the presidential contest an important
figure, and from the south one of the most gifted of her sons.
As soon as the news of the nomination of Lowndes reached Washington,
a delegation of members of Congress, from various sections, secured
Calhoun's consent to avow his candidacy. His career as a tariff man
and as a friend of internal improvements had won him northern
supporters, especially in Pennsylvania, although, as South
Carolina's action showed, he was not able to control his state.
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