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The
Congressional nominating caucus is the name for informal meetings in which American congressmen would agree on who to nominate for the Presidency and Vice Presidency from their political party. This system started in 1796 after
George WashingtonGeorge Washington was the commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the first President of the United States of America...
stepped down as President. The first such meeting was by the
Democratic-Republican PartyThe Democratic-Republican Party was founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison around 1792. Supporters usually identified themselves as Republicans, but sometimes as Democrats. The term "Democratic Republican" was also used by contemporaries, but mostly by the party's opponents...
to decide on who should run for Vice President with
Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States , the principal author of the Declaration of Independence , and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States...
. The system ended in 1824 as existing political parties began to decentralize as a result of the westward expansion of America. The system had come to be known as "King Caucus," because the power that these caucuses had to nominate a president was seen as undemocratic. The failure of the caucus nominee of 1824,
William CrawfordWilliam Harris Crawford was an American politician and judge during the early 19th century. He served as United States Secretary of War from 1815 to 1816 and United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1816 to 1825, and was a candidate for President of the United States in 1824.-Political...
, and his competitors to receive an electoral majority resulted in
John Quincy AdamsJohn Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States from March 4, 1825 to March 4, 1829. He was also an American diplomat and served in both the Senate and House of Representatives...
finally being elected president in the House of Representatives. These informal meetings were replaced with national presidential nominating conventions from 1831 onwards.