Election #2, 1792 - the NASTY-METER is a 2.

QUOTE from eulogy on George Washington, December, 1799, by Colonel Henry Lee, father of Robert E. Lee: "To the memory of the man, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

ELECTION #2, 1792. George Washington is reelected President of the U.S. The NASTY-METER is a 2.

In 1792, things got just a little worse. In his first term, Washington, as Father of the Nation, had to deal with quarrelsome kids. The kids is this case were cabinet members Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, and their dispute helped create something the framers of the Constitution hadn't quite bargained for; the first American political parties.

Hamilton had no trust in the common people. He believed in a strong central government. People who shared Hamilton's views came to be called Federalists.

Secretary of State Jefferson believed in the power of the people - the people preferably being farmers in an idealized agrarian society. He thought that Hamilton's form of government meant too much power vested in too few hands. Those who agreed with Jefferson called themselves
Republicans.

Washington did not want to run for a second term. He wanted to go back to Mount Vernon and spend his remaining years on his farm with his wife, Martha.
But with the country starting to split, he decided to run one more time, as a unifying figure.

Fifteen states participated in the 1792 electoral college. In 1789 there were only ten. North Carolina and Vermont had not yet ratified the constitution in 1789 so they couldn't vote. New York had failed to appoint its allotted eight electors in time so they didn't vote either.

Washington was considered a shoo-in to win the 1792 election. So the only question was whether Federalist Vice President John Adams would get the second most electoral votes and become VP again. Adams had said some things that made the Republicans members of Congress pretty mad. He had written that the U.S. would be a better place if it was ruled by "the rich and well born."
Needless to say the Republicans took offense. So Republican congressmen from five states decided to give Adams some competition. They proposed that New York Governor George Clinton be their candidate for VP.

When the electoral college voted all 132 electors made Washington their first choice. VP Adams received 77 and Governor Clinton got 50. Adams considered the vote a sign of disrespect and thus the stage was set for 1796 and the first truly contested presidential election in American history.


P.S. The new political parties begin to attack.

Hamilton and Jefferson did not like each other.In fact they started attacking each other in newspapers. Hamilton and his friend, John Fenno, editor of the "Gazette of the U.S." took swipes at Jefferson calling him "Generalissimo" and saying he was a man of "profound ambition and violent passion."

Jefferson and James Madison fired back in the "National Gazette" saying Hamilton's followers
were "monied men of influence" and if Hamilton''s plan was followed the citizens "should think of nothing but obedience, leaving the care of their liberties to their wiser rulers.

From here on in the political parties play a major role in American campaigns and the NASTY-METER moves to higher numbers.