no more about it, — at least for the time being. Under these circumstances the personal question became the most important one. Hitherto candidates for the presidency had been formally nominated by the party caucus of members of Congress. But in the course of time the Congressional caucus had become odious, there being a popular impression that it was too much subject to intrigue. Recommendations of candidates had always been made by state legislatures, or even by meetings of citizens, but they had been looked upon merely as more or less respectable demonstrations of public sentiment. These, however, as the Congressional caucus fell into discredit, gained in importance. National conventions of political parties had not yet been invented. A suggestion to call one was made in Pennsylvania, but it remained unheeded. In the breaking up of old political habits, the traditional notion that the secretaryship of state should be regarded as the stepping stone to the presidency, had also become very much weakened. There opened itself, then, a free field for what might irreverently be called a “scramble.”
The consequence was that no less than six candidates for the presidency presented themselves to the people: Crawford of Georgia, Jackson of Tennessee, Adams of Massachusetts, Clay of Kentucky, Calhoun of South Carolina, and Clinton of New York. The two last named were soon withdrawn. All belonged to the ruling party. Crawford was Secretary of the Treasury. He
