d gloomy.
In the last two months of the canvass Jackson ordered a general
onslaught upon Kentucky, and when finally it was affirmed that the
State had been "carried out from under" its accustomed master, Clay
knew only too well that the boast was true. To Adams's assurances that
after four years of Jackson the country would gladly turn to the
Kentuckian, the latter could only reply that there would, indeed, be a
reaction, but that before another President would be taken from the
West he would be too old; and it was with difficulty that Adams
persuaded him not to retire immediately from the Cabinet.

The results of the contest fully bore out the apprehensions of the
Administration. Jackson received nearly 140,000 more popular votes
than Adams and carried every State south of the Potomac and west of
the Alleghanies. He carried Pennsylvania also by a vote of two to one
and divided about equally with his opponent the votes of New York and
Maryland. Only New England held fast for Adams. As one writer has
facetiously remarked, "It took a New England conscience to hold a
follower in line for the New England candidate." The total electoral
vote was 178 for Jackson and 83 for Adams. Calhoun was easily
reelected to the vice presidency. Both branches of Congress remained
under the control of Jackson's partizans.

Months before the election, congratulatory messages began to pour into
the Hermitage. Some came from old friends and disinterested
well-wishers, many from prospective seekers of office or of other
favors. Influential people in the East, and especially at the capital,
hastened to express their desire to be of service to the Jacksons in
the new life to which they were about to be called. In the list one
notes with interest the names of General Thomas Cadwalader of
Philadelphia, salaried lobbyist for the United States Bank, and
Senator Robert Y. Hayne, the future South Carolina nullifier.

Returns sufficiently complete to leave no doubt of Jackson's election
reached the Hermitage on the 9th of December. That afternoon, Lewis,
Carroll, and a few other members of the "general headquarters staff"
gathered at the Jackson home to review the situation and look over the
bulky correspondence that had come in. "General Jackson," reports
Lewis, "showed no elation. In fact, he had for some time considered
his election certain, the only question in his mind being the extent
of the majority. When he finished looking over the summary b