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Third Time's The Charm, Part I

© John S. Cooper

Many men have run for President more than once. A number of these candidates have tried numerous times to win the nomination of their party. There have also been a number of candidates to receive the nomination, and yet lose in the Electoral College once or even twice. But only two men have lost the Presidency (in the Electoral College) three times.

The first three-time loser was the "Great Compromiser," Henry Clay of Kentucky. Clay had a long and distinguished career in government. He had served in the U.S. Senate at the age of 29, one year younger than the minimum age required by the Constitution. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he was elected Speaker in his first term. He also served as Peace Commissioner for the Treaty of Ghent, and Secretary of State under President John Quincy Adams.

In 1824, there were five candidates for President, all Democratic-Republicans since the Federalist Party had more or less died as a national party. John Calhoun dropped out of the race to become the Vice Presidential nominee on the two top tickets (Jackson and J.Q. Adams) and was elected Vice President. The other four candidates, Jackson, J.Q. Adams, Secretary of the Treasury William Crawford and Speaker of the House Henry Clay ran a spirited race. When the Electoral College voted, no candidate had the required majority.

Henry Clay came in third in popular votes, finishing ahead of Crawford, but finished fourth in the electoral voting. According to the Constitution, he was no longer eligible as the House of Representatives met to choose the next President from the top three electoral vote winners. However, with his immense popularity in the House of Representatives, he was highly influential in convincing other House members into voting for John Quincy Adams, who was selected on the first ballot. Clay then became Adams' Secretary of State. The shame of it for Clay is that with his standing in the House, had he finished third (he finished only four votes behind Crawford) he almost certainly would have been chosen President by his colleagues.

Clay's second nomination came in 1832. The popular Andrew Jackson was running for re-election, and Clay could not possibly match him in a race based on personality. Clay wanted to run an issued-based campaign but needed an issue, so he persuaded the head of the Bank of the United States to apply for a new charter in 1832, even though the current charter had another four years to run. When the Congress passed the charter to continue the Bank of the United States, President Jackson (who had always opposed the Bank of the United States because it favored the wealthy class at the expense of the common citizens) vetoed the bill as expected. Jackson agreed to make the Bank of the United States the main issue of the campaign, and to use the campaign as a referendum on the Bank. Clay had his issue.