Before I go to sleep, I should note that today is Corrupt Bargain Day, a Kelman family holdiay that really should be exported to the nation at large. On this day in 1825, the US House of Representatives denied Andrew Jackson the presidency, choosing to award the office to John Quincy Adams instead. Jackson then pitched a four-yeat fit, controlling the spin by railing about democracy and impugning the integrity of Henry Clay. Adams, meanwhile, wore a powdered wig. Advantage Jackson. But on this day, at least, we can celebrate Old Hickory’s defeat.
(Update: Now with video. I think the choice of Jim Morrison, American poet, is inspired. I honestly can’t think of a weirder choice for music than The Doors.)
The Edge of the American West 
15 comments
February 10, 2008 at 1:06 am
teofilo
Did Adams really wear a powdered wig? Pictorial evidence suggests otherwise.
February 10, 2008 at 4:19 am
drip
Maybe he wore that wig at the Treaty of Ghent or in the Supreme Court?
February 10, 2008 at 5:39 am
teofilo
He wasn’t wearing a wig in the movie, I know that much.
February 10, 2008 at 5:50 am
Levi Stahl
Always good to celebrate Jackon getting what was coming to him . .. even if it wasn’t, strictly speaking, what ought to have been coming to him.
February 10, 2008 at 8:32 am
drip
I guess you’re right, but I could have sworn that wasn’t really Adams in the movie.
February 10, 2008 at 12:56 pm
ari
I was referring to Adams’s anachronsitc manners, ill suited to the era that he governed.
February 10, 2008 at 6:44 pm
andrew
As bad as Adams’ presidency was, he’s got to get some credit for his later fight against the gag rule.
February 10, 2008 at 6:46 pm
ari
He also deserves credit for never having made a YouTube video scored by Jim Morrison. But yes, I agree, Adams gets favorable treatment when I teach the survey. He was, in many ways, a great man, just out of step with the times. Like me. Okay, maybe not.
February 10, 2008 at 6:52 pm
urbino
You wear a powdered wig?
February 10, 2008 at 7:14 pm
ari
Totally. But usually just when I teach.
February 11, 2008 at 7:31 am
dware
Okay, can we expect a similar treatmetn of teh Nullification episode? Please? A couple of years ago one of my students came up with a customized John C. Calhoun action figure, suitable for “hanging as high as Haman.”
February 11, 2008 at 9:33 am
ari
We’ve talked about Nullification before: here and here. But I’m sure we will again. Also, do you have a picture of the action figure? Because, if so, I’ll be happy to use it as art next time I post about Calhoun.
February 12, 2008 at 8:19 am
Michael H Schneider
You may know the music from The Doors, but it’s originally from a Kurt Weil – Bertolt Brecht opera (‘Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny’)
February 12, 2008 at 8:36 am
ari
Hi Michael. Yes, I know its from Weil’s opera. I remember that the first or second time I listened to this song on my parents’ stereo, just after arriving back from the record (I’m an old man) store with my new purchase, my mother overheard the music, walked into the living room, and said something to the effect of, “Well, that’s not all bad, that’s Brecht, you know.” I was probably in fourth or fifth grade and falling in love with The Doors — along with other bands of their era. So, like any aspiring adolescent, I ignored her and and went back to being sullen and grooving on “The End” or whatever else I was into. But her music history lesson did stick with me.
Anyway, thanks so much for the comment.
October 13, 2008 at 5:32 pm
gimmiegets
apparently the fit continues today… at least the legend.