A History Lesson
By the mid 1820’s, the United States was entering “adolescence”. The era of the Founders had ended, their passing tolled by the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. On July 4th, 1826; fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died. (Supposedly Adams last words were, “at least Jefferson still lives”, not knowing that the Sage of Monticello had passed earlier in the day). They were aware of the significance of what they started in 1776, and hoped for even greater things for the Nation they created.
Adams’ son, John Quincy, was the President of the United States. Like his father, he was definitely not the most popular politician of his time. In fact, he didn’t win either the popular or the electoral vote in the election of 1824. In that era, there was no “two-party” system. Of the two original political parties in the Nation, John Adam’s Federalists, withered away after the War of 1812. That left the party of Jefferson, the Democratic-Republican Party, as the only national political force. In 1824, four different Democratic-Republicans ran for President.
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was the Secretary of State (and the true author of the “Monroe Doctrine”). For the past three Presidencies, the Secretary of State succeeded into the highest office, and Adams wanted to continue the trend. He had the backing of his home New England states. Andrew Jackson, Senator from Tennessee and the Hero of the Battle of New Orleans a decade before, represented the Western Party. Henry Clay of Kentucky, Speaker of the House of Representatives, was able to get his support from the center of the Nation. And Treasury Secretary William Crawford had support from his home state of Georgia, and the largest state in the Nation, Virginia.
Jackson represented a populist view, arguing against “His Excellency” the son of the founder Adams. He received 40% of the popular vote, and the most electoral votes. Adams was second with 32% of the vote, and the second most electoral votes. Crawford and Clay split the rest, denying either of the first two candidates a winning majority in the Electoral College.
With no Electoral majority, the 12th Amendment to the Constitution mandated that the House of Representatives select from the top three candidates. Each state had one equal vote, so state Congressional delegations had to vote among themselves to see how their one vote would be cast. Clay, fourth in the election, was dropped from the race. But as Speaker, and a strong opponent of Jackson, he lent his support and influence to Adams.
Corrupt Bargain
Adams won thirteen states to Jackson’s seven. Clay would become Adams’ Secretary of State. And Jackson, shocked by the result, began his 1828 campaign for the Presidency on what he claimed was the “corrupt bargain” between Clay and Adams.
Four years later, there was no doubt as to the outcome of the election. Jackson won 55% of the popular vote and 178 electoral votes to Adams’ 44% and 83. America’s first “populist” President took office in 1829 (Adams, like his father, refused to attend the Inauguration). Jackson opened the White House to the Inaugural crowd, and the resulting party did thousands of dollars of damage to the furnishings. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story put it: “The reign of King Mob seemed triumphant”.
One of the first things Jackson did was fire every government employee that he controlled, and put in his own supporters, all the way down to the local postmasters throughout the Nation. His argument was that any good American can do the job, so it might as well be a good American who supports me.
To the Victor
Senator William Marcy of New York described it best: “To the victor belongs the spoils”. And so began the “spoils system”, when each new President, and particularly each one of a different political party, would empty the Federal employment and replace them with his own supporters. This continued until after the election of 1880. That winner, James Garfield, was soon assassinated by a disappointed office seeker. Garfield’s successor, Chester Arthur, used the tragedy to pass the first true Civil Service reform, making most Federal employment available on merit, as opposed to political affiliation.
It is no accident that Donald Trump deeply admires Andrew Jackson’s Presidency. Jackson was a man of action. He stood up against the Supreme Court, ignoring their order to stop the Indian Removal ( “The Trail of Tears” was only one part of the massive exile). Jackson supposedly said of the Supreme Court Chief Justice, John Marshall; “Marshall’s made his decision, let him enforce it”. That might be a good thing to keep in mind with the looming migrant round-up and deportation.
And Jackson believed that the most important qualification for holding office was loyalty to himself. Trump wants to alter civil service so he can “deconstruct the administrative state”. So when we see the list of his appointees to the highest government positions: from election denier Pam Bondi as Attorney General to Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 co-author Russell Vought as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, keep that in mind. They are Trump loyalists. That is their most important qualification.
To the Victor go the Spoils.
Post Script
Jackson’s political party became the Democratic Party of today. Adams supporters became the Whig Party, which dissolved in the enslavement crisis of the 1850’s. But many Whigs became part of a new political Party, the Republicans, including their first President, Abraham Lincoln.
So there is precedent for political parties to “evolve”. We saw it as the Segregationist Democrats of the 1920’s became the current diverse Party. And, we experience it now as the “traditional Republicans” of a decade ago are replaced by the “MAGA Republicans”. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.
