John Quincy Adams

President of the United States (d. 1848)

The United States presidential election of 1824 was the 10th quadrennial presidential election, held from Tuesday, October 26, to Thursday, December 2, 1824. John Quincy Adams was elected President on February 9, 1825, after the election was decided by the House of Representatives in what was termed by some individuals a Corrupt Bargain. The previous years had seen a one-party government in the United States, as the Federalist Party dissolved, leaving only the Democratic-Republican Party as a national political entity. In this election, the Democratic-Republican Party splintered as four separate candidates sought the presidency. This process did not yet lead to formal party organizations, but later, the faction led by Andrew Jackson would evolve into the modern Democratic Party, while the factions led by John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay would become the National Republican Party (no relation to the current Republican Party) and then the Whig Party. The presidential election of 1824 is notable for several reasons. Most importantly of all, it was the only election since the passage of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution to have been decided by the House of Representatives in accordance with its provision to turn over the choice of the president to the House when no candidate secures a majority of the electoral vote. It was also the only presidential election in which the candidate who received the most electoral votes did not become president, since Andrew Jackson's plurality of electoral votes was insufficient to prevent the election from being thrown into the House of Representatives, and the first in which the successful presidential candidate did not win the popular vote. Lastly, this election marked the seventh consecutive presidential victory for the Democratic-Republican Party, which, to this day, represents the longest presidential winning streak in American history.

After no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes in the US presidential election of 1824, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams as sixth President of the United States in a contingent election.

U.S. President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828 into law, protecting wool manufacturers in the United States.

Andrew Jackson est élu président des États-Unis par le Congrès par 178 voix, contre 83 à son rival John Quincy Adams.

Former US President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives.

British scientist James Smithson (d. 1829) left most of his wealth to his nephew Henry James Hungerford; however, when Hungerford died childless in 1835, the estate passed "to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an Establishment for the increase & diffusion of knowledge among men", in accordance with Smithson's will. Congress officially accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation, and pledged the faith of the United States to the charitable trust on July 1, 1836. The American diplomat Richard Rush was dispatched to England by President Andrew Jackson to collect the bequest; Rush returned in August 1838 with 105 sacks containing 104,960 gold sovereigns (about $500,000 at the time, which is equivalent to $11,073,000 in 2015). Once the money was in hand, eight years of Congressional haggling ensued over how to interpret Smithson's rather vague mandate "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge." Unfortunately the money was invested by the US Treasury in bonds issued by the state of Arkansas which soon defaulted. After heated debate, Massachusetts Representative (and ex-President) John Quincy Adams persuaded Congress to restore the lost funds with interest and, despite designs on the money for other purposes, convinced his colleagues to preserve it for an institution of science and learning. Finally, on August 10, 1846, President James K. Polk signed the legislation that established the Smithsonian Institution as a trust instrumentality of the United States, to be administered by a Board of Regents and a Secretary of the Smithsonian.

6th President of the United States (b. 1767)