but
the real issue was the manner of selecting the President. Should he
continue to be chosen by a combination of Congressmen, or should the
people take matters into their own hands? Impatience with the caucus
system showed itself in numerous nominations of Clay, Adams, and
Jackson by sundry state conventions, legislatures, and other more or
less official bodies. The supporters of Jackson, in particular, made
"down with the caucus" their rallying cry and found it tremendously
effective. In the earlier stages of the campaign the politicians,
aside from Lewis and his coworkers, were unwilling to believe that
Jackson could be elected. Later, however, they were forced to
acknowledge his strength, and at the end the fight was really between
Jackson and the field, rather than between Crawford and the field as
had been anticipated.

At the beginning of November, Jackson, accompanied by his wife and
traveling in a handsome coach drawn by four of the finest Hermitage
thoroughbreds, set out for Washington. Hostile scribblers lost no time
in contrasting this display of grandeur with the republican simplicity
of Jefferson, who rode from Monticello to the capital on the back of a
plantation nag without pedigree. But Jackson was not perturbed. At
various points on the road he received returns from the elections, and
when after four or five weeks the equipage drew up in the capital
Jackson knew the general result. Calhoun had been elected vice
president with little opposition. But no one of the presidential
candidates had obtained an electoral majority, and the task of
choosing among the highest three would, under the terms of the
Constitution, devolve upon the House of Representatives. When, by the
middle of December, the returns were all in, it was found that Jackson
would have 99 votes in the electoral college, Adams 84, Crawford 41,
and Clay 37.

The country awaited the 9th of February--the day of the official
count--with great interest. Clay was, of course, eliminated. Crawford
likewise, by reason of his poor showing and the precarious state of
his health, could not expect to do more than hold his own. The contest
had narrowed to Jackson and Adams, with Clay holding the balance.
There were twenty-four States in the Union; the successful candidate
must command the votes of thirteen.

The choice that Clay now had to make was distasteful, although not
really difficult. Jackson had obtained a substantial plurality of the
elector