USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Once in office, Adams installed Henry Clay to the post of Secretary of State. Adams’s victory was a gut punch for Jackson, who expected to be elected President having more popular and electoral votes. Following this logic, Jackson and his followers accused Clay and Adams of striking a corrupt bargain.

Detailed explanation-2: -Three events in American political history have been called a corrupt bargain: the 1824 United States presidential election, the Compromise of 1877, and Gerald Ford’s 1974 pardon of Richard Nixon.

Detailed explanation-3: -After no candidate received a majority of electoral votes in the 1824 election, John Quincy Adams was elected president by the House of Representatives.

Detailed explanation-4: -In 1828, Andrew Jackson campaigned against what he called the corrupt bargain between John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay. In the 1824 presidential election, Jackson won the popular vote but lost the electoral vote. Adams took office instead when fourth place finisher, Henry Clay, threw his electoral votes to Adams.