Then he set out on the long journey
homeward. Every town through Pennsylvania and along the Ohio turned
out _en masse_ to greet him, and at Nashville he was given a
prodigious reception. To friends and traveling companions he talked
constantly about the election, leaving no doubt of his conviction that
he had been defeated by intrigue. To a sympathetic group of passengers
traveling down the Ohio with him on board the _General Neville_ he
declared emphatically that, if he had been willing to make the same
promises and offers to Clay that Adams had made, he would that minute
be in the presidential chair. If he should yet attain that dignity, he
added significantly, he would do it "with clean hands." It is reported
that as he spoke there was in his eye the fire of determination, such
as his soldiers had seen there as he strode up and down the
breastworks at New Orleans.
To this point Jackson had sought the presidency rather at the
instigation of his friends than because of personal desire for the
office. Now all was changed.
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