In a nutshell…J.Q. Adams, the incumbent, vs Andrew “Old Hickory” Jackson. Much was made of the gross mismanagement of taxpayer dollars in the purchase of a billiards table by Adams for the White House and spotlighted the regal spending of a President who instead acted like a king. In reality, Adams paid for it out of his own pocket and lived a very spartan existence while president. But that couldn’t silence an effective smear campaign. Jackson was the down-to-earth warrior hero of the unwashed, non-1 % masses. Adams also stuck with Washington’s example of not campaigning for the position. Jackson also claimed to be above it all but in reality, worked the campaign and crowds like a strategic genius. Among the accusations against Adams were that he traveled on Sundays, had had premarital relations with his wife, and that when he was minister to Russia procured a young American girl for Czar Alexander, not to mention set up gaming and gambling in the White House.

Vic