General Character of the Presidential Contest of 1824--John Quincy Adams--DeWitt Clinton--William H. Crawford--John C. Calhoun--Daniel Webster--Henry Clay--Andrew Jackson--The Nomination of Presidential Candidates in 1824--Failure of the Electors to Elect the President--Territorial Distribution of the Electoral Vote--New York in the Election of 1824--South Carolina in the Election of 1824--Pennsylvania in the Election of 1824--The Election in the House of Representatives--Clay Master of the Situation--Clay's Support of Adams, and Kremer's Charge of Bargain and Corruption--The Election of Adams by the House of Representatives--Clay and the Secretaryship of State--Threats of the Organization of an Anti-administration Party--The Bargain between Clay and Adams a mere Suspicion--Clay's Nomination to the Secretaryship of State in the Senate--The Composition of the new Anti-administration Party. [Sidenote: General character of the presidential contest of 1824.] As has been pointed out, from 1820 to 1824 the political arena was clear of the combats of principles, and furnished the tilting-ground for the jousts of personal ambition. The "Virginia dynasty" became extinct with the expiration of Monroe's second term, and the way was open for anyone to enter the lists who was willing to risk the shocks of the encounter. At no time in our history has the roll of our political nobility been more full of brilliant names and characters. {132} [Sidenote: John Quincy Adams.] First of all, there was John Quincy Adams, the Secretary of State, the "knight without fear and without reproach," blunt, grim, almost rude, through an unconscious suspicion that politeness might encourage the approach of temptation; now fifty-seven years old, and trained in statecraft and diplomacy almost from childhood; the best equipped statesman and the most experienced statesman that America had up to that time produced; ready to serve his country in any honorable capacity to which that country might freely call him, and just as ready to withdraw from that service when his country indicated the desire to dispense with him; puritanic, austere, and to the last degree patriotic, his one qualification for the presidential office was the capacity to discharge its duties wisely, honestly, and loyally, a qualification which too rarely wins in popular elections. [Sidenote: DeWitt Clinton.]