HCCPL- Corrupt Bargain? Henry Clay and the Election of 1812

This mini-lecture will be presented by Luke Bendick, American History instructor at Hopkinsville Community College.

The following information was provided by Bendick.

“Contrary to some popular opinion, the factious electoral politics of the twenty-first century pale compared to the early nineteenth century’s political landscape. The race for the Executive Mansion in 1824 was termed a four-horse race by one Tennessee newspaper and remains one of the most divisive, contentious, and incendiary in American history. The alleged role that Kentucky’s Henry Clay played in determining the outcome has been subject to historical debate ever since. This lecture will focus on the election of 1824 and will emphasize the damaging impact that Clay’s supposed role in the “corruption and intrigue” in setting the terms of the outcome had on his future political aspirations, the subsequent birth of the second party system, and emergence of an acceptable “cult of personality” in national politics.”