1824 Election
Andrew Jackson won the election (most popular votes and most electoral votes), but some people conspired and arranged for Congress to award John Quincy Adams with the Presidency.
There was no criminal prosecution. Historians don't accuse anybody of insurrection.
Eighteen states chose presidential electors by popular vote in 1824 (six states still left the choice up to their state legislatures) —Jackson's popularity foretold a new era in the making.
When the final votes were tallied in those eighteen states, Jackson polled 152,901 popular votes to Adams's 114,023; Clay won 47,217, and Crawford won 46,979.
The electoral college returns, however, gave Jackson only 99 votes, 32 fewer than he needed for a majority of the total votes cast. Adams won 84 electoral votes followed by 41 for Crawford and 37 for Clay. Jackson was the only candidate to attract significant support beyond his regional base. The infamous "Corrupt Bargain":
Jackson could barely contain his fury at having lost the election in what he claimed was a "corrupt bargain" between Adams and Clay to overturn the will of the people. To most Jackson supporters, it looked as if congressional leaders had conspired to revive the caucus system, whereby Congress greatly influenced—if not determined—the selection of the President.
Jackson laid the blame on Clay, telling anyone who would listen that the Speaker had approached him with the offer of a deal: Clay would support Jackson in return for Jackson's appointment of Clay as secretary of state. When Jackson refused, Clay purportedly made the deal with Adams instead. In Jackson's words, Clay had sold his influence in a "corrupt bargain." millercenter.org
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