Some artistic representations of Jackson made between 1822 and 1827 mark his transition from military commander to civilian statesman, though he was still very much the Hero of New Orleans. In 1821, a few years after the First Seminole War (1817–18), Jackson resigned his commission as a major general and briefly served as the governor of Florida, newly acquired from Spain. Soon after his return to Tennessee, the legislature nominated him as a candidate for the 1824 presidential election. 

The 1824 race in Louisiana was notable for the creative means used by Jackson’s supporters to tilt the odds away from Henry Clay, who was predicted to carry the state. While one would expect the Hero of New Orleans to be the favored candidate, many French-speaking Louisianans harbored hard feelings over Jackson’s heavy-handedness during the crisis of 1814–15. Jackson’s supporters used strategically timed horse races and other diversions to distract and delay pro-Clay delegates from reaching the legislative session in New Orleans, where the state’s electors would be chosen. Several pro-Clay legislators fell to temptation and failed to appear, thus splitting Louisiana’s electoral votes between Jackson and John Quincy Adams, and possibly costing Clay the presidency. 

Jackson went on to win the popular vote in the national election, but without the necessary margin to enable him to take office. Aghast that Jackson might win, Henry Clay wrote a letter that was widely published in newspapers, expressing disbelief “that killing 2500 Englishmen at N. Orleans qualifies for the various, difficult and complicated duties of the Chief Magistracy.” In the end, the US House of Representatives awarded the presidency to John Quincy Adams, who chose Henry Clay as his secretary of state, provoking cries of “Bargains and Corruption” among Jackson’s supporters.