The result of the election, with the victory of an ardent opponent of slavery, spurred the secession of eleven states and brought about the American Civil War.

The election was the only one in history to be decided by the House of Representatives under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution after no candidate secured a majority of the electoral vote.

Plumer cast his electoral ballot for Secretary of State John Quincy Adams.

While some accounts claim incorrectly that this was to ensure that George Washington would remain the only American president unanimously chosen by the Electoral College, that was not Plumer's goal.

[8] Plumer also refused to vote for Tompkins for Vice President as "grossly intemperate", not having "that weight of character which his office requires," and "because he grossly neglected his duty" in his "only" official role as President of the Senate by being "absent nearly three-fourths of the time";[9] Plumer instead voted for Richard Rush.