1824 Presidents

Henry Clay, also known as the “Great Compromiser”, was a prominent political figure during the early to middle stages nineteenth century. He was first recognized for his repeated aid to help solve slavery disputes between the North and South. In 1803, he was elected to be Kentucky’s state legislature. Three years later, when Clay was not even thirty years old, the legislature elected him to fill an unexpired term in the U.S. Senate, even though it was required by the Constitution to be at least thirty years old. In 1811, Clay was elected to be a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Almost immediately following, he was chosen to be the Speaker of the House of Representatives and reelected for five more terms after that. In 1816, Henry Clay and John Calhoun helped get the Tariff of 1816 passed. This tariff was closely tired with Clay’s national economic system, which he called the American System. The “American System” added a protective tariff to aid American manufacturers, a national bank, and asked the government to support improvements in canal and road building. The National Republican Party supported the “American System” Clay soon became an important leader of the party.

John Quincy Adams started his political career when he became a minister to the Netherlands in 1794. Two years later, Adams became the minister to Portugal. When Thomas Jefferson became President, Adams returned home and was elected to the Massachusetts Senate. In 1803, Adams was chosen to be part of the U.S. Senate by Federalists. Adams remained a Federalist until the Embargo Act of 1807. Adams left the Federalists because they did not support the Act and sided with the Democratic Republicans who believed the Act would help the nation. In 1809, President Madison asked Adams to be the minister to Russia, which got him back on his political track. He gained lots of respect through his negotiations in the Treaty of Ghent. In 1817, President Monroe made Adams his Secretary of State. Adams most main accomplishment as the secretary of state was promoting the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine stated that European powers could not longer colonize or get in the way of American affairs. In 1824, Adams decided to run for president.

William Crawford was a southern leader in U.S. politics. He was part of the Democratic Republican Party, which believed in an idea that all powers not given to the national government are retained by the states. From 1803 to 1807, he was elected to be part of the Georgia State House of Representatives. Following that, Crawford served as a U.S. Senator until 1813. Under Presidents Madison and Monroe, Crawford served as the U.S. Secretary of Treasury until 1824, when he decided to run for president.

Andrew