1828 Party Caucuses

Few expected the rapid change that took place in Washington on March 4th, 1825 with the inauguration of John Quincy Adams as President. His first time in office had lasted less than a year, and for the most part he had attempted to respect the legacy of his predecessor. It was expected that, given Adams' past associations with the Clintons, that this time around would function basically the same. Such was far from the truth. Having finally been elected in his own right after the electoral failures of 1812 and 1816, and his final humiliation of being elected Vice President under a second Clinton in 1820, Adams was determined to finally enact his agenda. While he had approved of a number of DeWitt Clinton's domestic projects, he saw them as being in need of expansion. With the backing of Henry Clay, now his Secretary of State, Adams expanded funding for roads and canals and the United States saw its first protectionist actions since the Embargo Act. He has, as well, slowed the sales of land in the West, much to the chagrin of Western Republicans and Nationals alike. The reason for doing so is out of concern for Indian settlements there.

However, it would be foreign policy where Adams intended to reverse the legacy of his predecessors. Since Jefferson's time, the Navy had been in decline. While President Monroe had attempted to reverse the process, it had been to little avail. Adams and Monroe, sandwiched between the two dovish Clintons, had been able to do very little to stop the series of military reductions that took place between 1805 and 1825. In that time, European influence over the Western Hemisphere had been on the rise. Involvement from across the ocean in Mexican, Caribbean, South American, and Canadian affairs had been steadily increasing. With the United States having very little to back up its opposition to said influence, the problem had persisted, and some of the issues of the Jay and Jefferson administrations--American merchants having run ins with European military vessels--had begun to pop up. In his inaugural address, the "Adams Doctrine" was declared. Over the next four years, the military, and especially the Navy, has seen continued increases in funding and size. Meanwhile, the President has declared that America will no longer sit so easily with European empires slowly closing in around it. While some accused Adams of war-mongering, he has maintained what he believes a cautious and non-interventionist foreign policy, stating "But she [the United States of America] goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own." However, Adams has not been wholly pacifistic as, under his administration, America now occupies formerly Spanish Florida, the first land gain of note since the Louisiana Purchase. General Winfield Scott is currently Florida's appointed Governor.

In 1828, we see a more armed America, a more rapidly industrializing America, and one where Adams, with his years in diplomacy, has managed to forge pacts of reciprocity with a number of nations. Some in his own party claim that Adams has been far too quick to escalate stakes in international relations. The Republicans, meanwhile, have attacked him as a protectionist, a despot--Adams is on record as saying he believes Congress should not be so swayed by the will of its constituents--and, depending on who you talk to, as either having not gone far enough in battling European influence in the Americas, or having done far too much. Possible challengers to the President within his own party are Vice President William Henry Harrison whose supporters claim would allow for greater expansion to the West and as well be more willing to openly confront Europe, and Secretary of State Henry Clay. Despite Clay's foreign policy role in the administration, he would prefer a return to focusing on domestic policy and views Adams' foreign policy as largely irrelevant to Clay's own goals.

The Republicans, meanwhile, are pushing mainly for 1824's candidate, Martin Van Buren, to once again be nominated. With Van Buren's appeal to the North and Adams' bristly and alienating personality, many are saying that '28 will be the year for the Republicans if they just stick with Van Buren. Nevertheless, Jackson and Clark are of course making appearances on lists of potential nominees, as is rising star Senator Levi Woodbury of New Hampshire. Elected in 1824 despite Adams' strength in New England, Woodbury has served as one of the newer faces of the party.

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