POD: In January of 1825, after he failed to secure the necessary votes in the Electoral College, Andrew Jackson was in a bad mood. Hoping to blow off some steam, he goes for a walk and ends up being accosted by one of his many political rivals. Words are exchanged, a duel is challenged and accepted.
Although Andrew Jackson is a champion dueler, the fates are not with him that day. During the challenge, his pistol misfires and he accidently shoots himself in the leg. Despite the best efforts of doctors, he develops an infection and dies after lingering for several days, raving madly about political conspiracies and lizard people. (Sorry, I want to take him out in as embarrassing way as I can).
This means, that when the House convenes to vote for the President, it suddenly comes down to a contest between Adams, Crawford and Clay. Jackson's supporters split between the three candidates. After a series of votes, Clay realizes he can't trump, and throws his support behind Adams as OTL.
Of course, with no Jackson, there is now no charges of a corrupt bargain - even his most diehard supporters can't complain he didn't win, when their hero is currently resting six feet under (a rather bad position from which to be elected).
So: how does American politics develop in the antebellum period? Andrew Jackson, love him or hate him, cast a large shadow over the entire era and his governing coalition helped form the nucleus of the Democratic Party, while his opponent's eventually consolidated into the Whigs.
It seems likely that a two party system would develop during this era, regardless. However, with different candidates and platforms to coalesce around, these parties could well be different than those that appeared in OTL.
Thoughts?