Chapter 6

The Corrupt Bargain

Summary
      In this chapter, the author talks about the presidential election of 1824, in which Andrew Jackson won the most popular and electoral votes, but still lost to Secretary of State John Quincy Adams when the House of Representatives decided. The corrupt bargain is the theory that Henry Clay, Speaker of the House, made a deal with Adams, promising to convince the House to choose him over Jackson if Adams in return made Clay his Secretary of State.
      Once Clay had been eliminated from the presidential running, it became his duty as speaker to choose the next president; therefore, he needed to choose between Jackson and Adams, and although he disliked them both, he chose Adams because the two shared many of the same beliefs. Next, he sent a friend to see what Adams thought, basically telling him that if Adams gave him "a prominent share in the Administration," then he would make sure that he would become the next President (89). The men arranged a meeting, arousing much suspicion. During that meeting, they discussed "their expectations of the future," but the author questions what really happened (92). When the decision went to the House of Representatives a few weeks later, Clay convinced Kentucky and Ohio to vote for Adams, he won on the very first ballot, and everyone realized that a corrupt bargain had been made. Clay greedily accepting the Secretary of State position only cemented what had been suspected, destroying his political career in the process.

Reflection
      It's hard to understand why the people in the House of Representatives could not see the corruption that was taking place before their very eyes. Why would the representatives of Kentucky and Ohio, where "nine tenths of the people [were] decidedly in [Jackson's] favor," change their minds and choose Adams, especially when Jackson had the most popular and electoral votes (93)? Clay must have been extremely persuasive. It's sad to think that, because of the greediness of these men, a person who was not quite fit for the position at that time won the honor of being president over a man everyone else preferred.
      I liked Jackson's quote about "the Judas of the West" (95). It really drives home the point that some men will do anything and betray anyone for power and money. Clay and Adams' deal absolutely was the "sale of public office" (90).