[Footnote: Sargent, Public Men and Events, I., 67;
Niles' Register, XXVII., 257; Adams, Memoirs, VI., 446.] Thus
vanished the latter's hopes of becoming one of the three candidates
to be voted on by the House of Representatives.
In the country as a whole, Jackson received 99 electoral votes,
Adams 84, Crawford 41, and Clay 37. For the vice-presidency, Calhoun
was chosen by a vote of 182, while Sanford, of New York, received
the vote of Ohio, together with a portion of that of Kentucky and
New York; Virginia voted for Macon, of North Carolina; Georgia for
Van Buren; and scattering votes were given for Jackson and Clay. No
presidential candidate had a majority, and, in accordance with the
Constitution, the House of Representatives was to decide between the
three highest candidates.
To Clay, powerful in Congress, fell the bitter honor of deciding
between his rivals. Jackson had a decisive plurality of the
electoral vote, and even the Kentucky legislature, under the
dominance of the "relief party, "urged the representatives from that
state to cast their vote in his favor.
Pages:
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375