madison turned out to be the last of the virginia dynasty of presidents. but three members of his cabinet decided to run. adams, from massachusetts, was the secretary of state. crawford, from georgia, was the secretary of the treasury. calhoun, of south carolina, was the secretary of war. clay, nearly as popular in the western territories as jackson, was the powerful speaker of the house of representatives. as a heroic general, jackson was by far the best known by the public. he had only a brief term in congress and had been a territorial governor. he had few other qualifications. he was not experienced in diplomacy, never held a cabinet post and did not speak any foreign languages. up to this time all u.s. presidents had diplomatic and administrative experience before becoming president.