Historedia
Episode 1 of 2

House Contingent Election

When
1825-02-09
Where
U.S. Capitol
Part of
Contingent election and inauguration of John Quincy Adams

The House of Representatives held a contingent election on February 9, 1825, to resolve the lack of an electoral majority.

Each state delegation cast one vote. Henry Clay, eliminated from the top three, supported Adams. This support ensured Adams's victory over Andrew Jackson, who had won a plurality of popular votes but not the electoral majority required for outright victory.

Sources

  1. 1824 United States presidential election Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-02
  2. Inauguration of John Quincy Adams Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-02

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.