Video: '1 President John Quincy Adams and the Election of 1824 Video & Lesson Transcript Education Porta'

(Friday, March 4, 1825) — John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, 57, was inaugurated today as the sixth President of the United States in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., with Chief Justice John Marshall administering oath of office. Adams was the first son of a former president to be elected to the nation’s highest office.

President James Monroe and Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins retired after serving two full terms (eight years) in office.

Adams was elected by the U.S. House of Representatives, after none of the four major presidential candidates secured a majority of the electoral college vote in the 1824 presidential election, in accordance with the Twelfth Amendment.

The outcome was assured when Henry Clay, one of the front-runners, threw his support to Adams so that the candidacy of Andrew Jackson, who had polled the most popular votes, would fail.

John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, who did win a majority of electoral votes, was sworn into office as the nation’s 7th Vice President of the United States.