Blood Feud: Adams v. Jefferson I

George Washington decided to step down following two terms in office. He was afraid he'd die in office should he be elected to a third term. As a result, 1796 provided the first contested election in U.S. history. Vice President John Adams took on former Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson for the nation's highest office. Despite being friends and Revolutionary compatriots, the two had diametrically opposed political views and the election allowed the nation's first political parties to cut loose.
Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans were extremely frustrated after eight years of Washington's Federalist policies. Attacking Washington meant attacking the Revolution and America itself. With Washington out of the way, the Jeffersonians attacked Adams without restraint. They accused the Vice-President of monarchical tendencies, a distrust of the people, and tried to paint him as despotic.
The Federalists did not sit idly as the Democratic-Republicans smeared Adams. Jefferson's opponents accused him of demagoguery and political opportunism. Federalists claimed Jefferson's career was built on scare tactics and his enthusiasm for the French Revolution was dangerous.
In the midst of the attacks, real differences existed between the two candidates. Adams wanted Senators elected for life as a check on the people while Jefferson believed in the people. Adams condemned the French Revolution and its excesses. Jefferson supported the Revolution and even defended the needless bloodshed as necessary for liberty. Adams wished to strengthen the national government and Jefferson wanted power pushed to the states.
In the end, Adams won because George Washington endorsed him. Despite winning the presidency, Adams could not shed Jefferson. Alexander Hamilton attempted to swing electoral college voters to the Federalist Vice Presidential candidate Thomas Pinckney. Hamilton did not want Adams to become president and wished to relegate him back the the vice-presidency. As a result, some voters did not vote for Pinckney to ensure Adams' election. At the time, President and V.P. were not elected in tandem. Candidates for each office were voted on separately. The person with the most electoral votes won the presidency while the person with the second most votes became vice-president. Without the full canvas of Federalist electoral voters behind him, Pinckney did not receive enough votes for either office. Jefferson finished second. For the only time in American history, the loser of the presidential election became Vice-President.
Tags: , Politics, History, Presidential Elections, 1796 Election, The Presidency, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams