1824 Election | Voting Public | Dirty Campaigning | Victory

In the end, Jackson won by an overwhelming victory.

His popular vote was 648,273 to 508,064 (for Adams). His electoral total was 178 to 83. Jackson had broken the hold of the northeastern elite on the Presidency thanks to largest voter turnout up to that time.

All six previous presidents had come from Virginia or Massachusetts, Jackson was the first to be born in the new frontier. He was also the first not to be born into the ranks of privilege and wealth. Andrew Jackson's win showed democracy at work. He was the only President since George Washington without a college education. Citizens believed anyone could become President - you could be an ordinary person and still aspire to the nation's highest office.

But in the moment of his greatest victory, he also suffered the most crushing blow of his life—the death of Rachel.

Sources :

Robert V. Remini, Andrew Jackson, Volume Two, The Course of American Freedom, 1822-1832 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998) Chapter 8, "Triumph and Tragedy."

James Parton, The Life of Andrew Jackson, Volume III (New York: Mason Brothers, 1861)

Alice Osinski, Encyclopedia of Presidents, Andrew Jackson (Chicago: Children's Press, 1987)

Herman J. Viola, World Leaders Past and Present, Jackson (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986)

Cass R. Sandak, The Jacksons, First Families (New York: Crestwood House, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1992)