As a makeshift army of thousands descended on Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 and marched towards Capitol Hill wearing and waving the colors of a defeated candidate for president, many of them were driven by the seemingly quixotic idea that one person could intervene and change the result that they were so furious about.
Except it wasn’t so quixotic.
After all, it has happened a few times in American history. Thanks to various provisions in our Constitution, there have been several Presidential elections where the result was so close and in dispute that they necessitated contingent elections, lawsuits or bipartisan commissions to pick the winner. In those instances, one person, be it a deciding vote on a commission or court or an influential figure capable of swinging an entire House of Congress, has loomed large as a kingmaker — or, in this case, a President maker.
Every vote matters. But some matter more than others…
Click below to read each part:
Part I: Alexander Hamilton and the 1800 Presidential Election. Alexander Hamilton seals the fate of his party, country, and possibly himself, as his machinations helped take down his party’s president, elect the nominee from the opposing party, and drive his eventual murderer into a rage.
Part II: “The Corrupt Bargain”. Andrew Jackson thought he had the 1824 Presidential Election won — until Henry Clay intervened.
Part III: Joseph Bradley Becomes the Ultimate Swing Vote. The 1876 Election was one of the most corrupt and dirtiest in American history — and that’s saying something.
Part IV: 5-4. In 2000, George W. Bush’s and Al Gore’s clash went beyond the ballot box and the Electoral College.
