A Comparison Of Two Presidential Candidates

What makes a great president? What makes a presidential candidate to be appealing to the common man? Is it the physical appearance which makes them appealing? In the election of 1824 the two presidential candidates were Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams. Adams was said to have been a man of short stature, a high voice and a bald head. Although Jackson had a full head of hair; his hair was wild and his eyebrows looked like fuzzy caterpillars crawling across his face. Based off the looks of these two candidates, thank goodness physical appearance was not the attribute that made an appealing candidate! Thankfully, presidential candidates are ideally chosen for their physical appearance, but for their background, character and qualifications

Being a typical farmer, Jackson and his family did not have a great deal of money; and he was not granted the ability to attend school throughout his childhood years. Although Jackson and Adams were both in the 1828 elections together, as children they lived exceptionally different lives. Adams was born into a politically thriving family, being the son of the Founding Father, John Adams. Consequently, John Quincy Adams was highly educated throughout his childhood. The American voter wanted a president like Jackson, who grew up, and lived a similar childhood life to

Not having much experience in a political position, Jackson was a strong military leader. Yet another aspect people liked about Jackson was the fact that he was an ordinary farmer and not a politician; the people could relate to him, and he could relate to them on the same personal level knowing what went into growing up as a common man and farming the land. Adams did not have the same relational aspect as a part of his candidacy, because he was born into a political family and had never lived like the common farmer. Another reason people liked Jackson was because he was a slave owner. In 1824 slavery was still popular, and people wanted a president who also owned slaves. On the other hand, Adams did not support slavery, he was born into a political family, was already a diplomat, and the establishment candidate. Up until the 1828 election, men like Adams who had the political qualifications were elected into office, but because of the influx of new voters, Jackson was the appealing candidate to the majority voters and was elected into office on March 4,