[Footnote: Adams, Memoirs,
VI., 446.] But although Jackson was popular in the west, Clay had
long been hostile to the candidacy of this military chieftain, and
could not well alter his opinion. Moreover, Clay's presidential
ambitions stood in the way of this choice. It would not have been
easy for him to become Jackson's successor, both because of the
difficulty of electing two successive candidates from the west and
because Calhoun had already anticipated him in the alliance. With
Crawford, he was on better terms; but that candidate was clearly in
the minority, his health was gravely impaired, and his following was
made up largely of the opponents of the policies which Clay
represented.[Footnote: Ibid., VII., 4; Niles' Register, XXVII.,
386.] He determined, therefore, to use his influence in behalf of
Adams--the rival who had borne away from him the secretaryship of
state and whose foreign policy had been the target of his most
persistent attacks. On the other hand, the recognition of the
Spanish-American republics and the announcement of the Monroe
Doctrine had made Adams in a sense the heir of Clay's own foreign
policy, and, in the matter of tariff and internal improvements,
Adams was far more in accord with him than was Crawford.
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