WI: William H. Crawford makes Henry Clay Secretary of State?

In the election of 1816, Henry Clay liked both Monroe and Crawford, but hoped to see Monroe win. He expected to be his Secretary of State, and was hurt and angered by it being given to John Quincy Adams.

But what if Clay heard a rumor that Monroe's first choice for Secretary of State was Adams. Would Clay then switch sides to Crawford? I can see Crawford (a Georgian) preferring a fellow westerner over the New Englander Adams. How would the Monroe (Crawford?) Doctrine be altered? How would the Adams-Onís Treaty be changed, or not happen?
 
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In the election of 1816, Henry Clay liked both Monroe and Crawford, but hoped to see Monroe win. He expected to be his Secretary of State, and was hurt and angered by it being given to John Quincy Adams.

But what if Clay heard a rumor that Monroe's first choice for Secretary of State was Adams. Would Clay then switch sides to Crawford? I can see Crawford (a Georgian) preferring a fellow westerner over the New Englander Adams. How would the Monroe (Crawford?) Doctrine be altered? How would the Adams-Onís Treaty be changed, or not happen?

Just a little confused here. Are you asking
if this would have changed the 1816 result
& butterflied away the Monroe presidency?
Or do you see this development happening AFTER Monroe is elected?
 
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Just a little confused here. Are you asking
if this would have changed the 1816 result
& butterflied away the Monroe presidency?
Or do you see this development happening AFTER Monroe is elected?
Apologies for not making myself clear. I was talking about the former.
 
Secretary of State was code for President in waiting at the time so Clay would certainly have the motivation.

As for the Adams-Oniz treaty, tough to say. Adams was perhaps the most qualified and one of the most talented diplomats we have ever had, but Spain really was looking to offload cumbersome possessions at the time and try to salvage what they could of their New World empire, so it might have gone forwards anyways.
 
In the election of 1816, Henry Clay liked both Monroe and Crawford, but hoped to see Monroe win. He expected to be his Secretary of State, and was hurt and angered by it being given to John Quincy Adams.

But what if Clay heard a rumor that Monroe's first choice for Secretary of State was Adams. Would Clay then switch sides to Crawford? I can see Crawford (a Georgian) preferring a fellow westerner over the New Englander Adams. How would the Monroe (Crawford?) Doctrine be altered? How would the Adams-Onís Treaty be changed, or not happen?


The problem with the senario is that how
would Clay have heard of such a rumor? All
authorities- @ least the ones I've read- state
that it wasn't until after he was elected that
Monroe picked his cabinet- until then, nobody including Monroe himself knew who
would get what. SEE Richard P. McCormick,
THE PRESIDENTAL GAME(1982), ch. 4 &
Glendon G. Van Deusen, THE LIFE OF HENRY
CLAY(1937), ch. 7.
 
Crawford didn't mind Adams. They were in agreement about internal improvements and pro-bank, there's a good chance Adams winds up where he was regardless and the Adams-Onis Treaty happens anyway. The only difference I see is Crawford playing hardball with Jackson and keeping him on a shorter leash.
 
I would add that J.Q. Adams was such a good Secretrary of State that I think anyone
else- including Crawford- would have been
inferior.
 
I'm glad I asked this - I hadn't realized until now how implausible my scenario was, both for having Clay hear a rumor that couldn't happen and Crawford picking Clay as Secretary of State. It's certainly possible for Crawford to win in 1816 - just have Monroe lose more support over his association with the Tertium Quids.
 
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