<P> The term corrupt bargain refers to three historic incidents in American history in which political agreement was determined by congressional or presidential actions that many viewed to be corrupt from different standpoints . Two of these involved the resolution of indeterminate or disputed electoral votes from the United States presidential election process, and the third involved the disputed use of a presidential pardon . In all three cases, the president so elevated served a single term, or singular vacancy, and either did not run again, or was not reelected when he ran . </P> <P> In the 1824 election, without an absolute majority in the Electoral College, the 12th Amendment dictated that the Presidential election be sent to the House of Representatives, whose Speaker and candidate in his own right, Henry Clay, gave his support to John Quincy Adams, and was then selected to be his Secretary of State . In the 1876 election, accusations of corruption stemmed from officials involved in counting the necessary and hotly contested electoral votes of both sides, in which Rutherford B. Hayes was elected by a congressional commission . The most recent incident widely described as a "corrupt bargain" was Gerald Ford's 1974 pardon of Richard Nixon, following the resignation of the disgraced former president . The critics claim that Ford's pardon was a quid pro quo for Nixon's resignation, which elevated Ford to the presidency . </P> <P> After the votes were counted in the U.S. presidential election of 1824, no candidate had received the majority needed of the Presidential Electoral votes (although Andrew Jackson had the most), thereby putting the outcome in the hands of the House of Representatives . There were four candidates on the ballot: John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, and William H. Crawford . Following the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment, however, only the top three candidates in the electoral vote were admitted as candidates, leaving out Henry Clay . To the surprise of many, the House elected John Quincy Adams over rival Andrew Jackson . It was widely believed that Clay, the Speaker of the House at the time, convinced Congress to elect Adams, who then made Clay his Secretary of State . Jackson's supporters denounced this as a "corrupt bargain ." The "corrupt bargain" that placed Adams in the White House and Clay in the State Department launched a four - year campaign of revenge by the friends of Andrew Jackson . Claiming the people had been cheated of their choice, Jacksonians attacked the Adams administration at every turn as illegitimate and tainted by aristocracy and corruption . Adams aided his own defeat by failing to rein in the pork barrel frenzy sparked by the General Survey Act . Jackson's attack on the national blueprint put forward by Adams and Clay won support from Old Republicans and market liberals, the latter of which increasingly argued that Congressional involvement in internal improvements was an open invitation to special interests and political logrolling . </P> <P> A 1998 analysis using game theory mathematics argued that, contrary to the assertions of Jackson, his supporters, and countless historians since, the results of the election were consistent with so - called "sincere voting"--that is, those Members of the House of Representatives who were unable to cast votes for their most - favored candidate apparently voted for their second - (or third -) most - favored candidate . </P>

What was the controversy surrounding the election of 1824
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