In the 1824 United States presidential election, the Democratic-Republicans split among Clay, Calhoun, William H. Crawford, Andrew Jackson, and John Quincy Adams. Despite their shared connection to Massachusetts, Webster had an uneasy relationship with Adams because the latter had left the Federalist Party earlier in his career; for his part, Adams detested him. As no candidate won a majority of the electoral vote, the 1824 election was decided in a contingent election held by the House of Representatives. Webster had remained neutral prior to the election, but he supported Adams in the contingent election, in large part because he viewed Jackson as completely unqualified to be president and Crawford had suffered a major stroke. Along with Clay, he helped rally members of the House around Adams, and Adams was elected on the first ballot of the contingent election.