Election #3, 1796 - the NASTY-METER rises to 3.

QUOTE from Thomas Jefferson, in an unsent letter to John Adams: "(I pray), that your administration may be filled with glory and happiness."

ELECTION #3, 1796. John Adams is elected our nation's second president. The NASTY-METER rises to 3.

By 1796 the honeymoon was over for George Washington. He was now receiving some pretty harsh criticism. When he put down the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794 in western Pennsylvanis the Republicans began calling George a tyrant and a dictator. When he signed a treaty with England in 1795 the Republicans howled that it was a cop-out to Federalist "monarchist" tendencies and supposed desire to return America to England. On September 19, 1796 Washington published his "Farewell Address," in which he warned against divisive political parties. This was all to no avail - as soon as the farewell was released, hungry politicians began scheming to fill Washington's shoes. Thomas Jefferson took a shot at his old buddy and Revolutionary comrade: "The president is fortunate to get off just as the bubble is bursting, leaving others to hold the bag."

The CANDIDATES IN 1796.

JOHN ADAMS was the Federalist candidate. Adams really wanted to be president. "Hi! Ho! Oh. Dear!" he gaily started off one letter to his wife, Abigail, when it became apparent that Washington would not seek a third term.

THOMAS JEFFERSON was the Republican candidate. In 1793 Jefferson left his job as secretary of state and went back to Monticello. Even though Jefferson had said "life in politics was a game and a useless waste of time" it was clear to everyone where his ambitions lay.

There were no nominating conventions in 1796. So the reality was that prominent members of each party decided on the candidates and then tried to convince their fellow members to follow suit. The nasty-meter went up substantially in 1796 through the use of handbills, pamphlets, and articles in Federalist and Republican journals and newspapers. In some ways it is interesting to know that character assassination has been part of our political campaigns since the 1790s - it is not something that started in the 20th century. The following will illustrate what I'm talking about.

- The Jefferson Republicans went after John Adams in a big way. They went after his throat - or rather, the tummy - by referring to the chubby Adam's "sesquipedality of belly." (This meant, literally, that his stomach was 18 inches long.) And they said Adams was "champion of kings, ranks, and titles." In addition they called Adams bizarre nicknames such as "Monoman" and "Angloman." They also said that if Adams was elected hereditary succession would be foisted upon America in the form of his son, John Quincy.

The Adams supporters (Federalists) got their shots in also. They cited Jefferson for his "atheistic" tendencies and his love of the French Revolution, especially the bloody, screaming mobs. His Republican followers were referred to as "cut-throats who walk in rags and sleep amidst filth and vermin." Federalists also smeared Jefferson as a "philosopher" and a "visionary " who would be "more fit to be a professor in a college ... but certainly not first magistrate of a great nation." And to make sure people got the message he was called an anarchist and a Francomaniac.

One other aspect of the 1796 election was the first attempt to balance the ticket by the judicious selection of a vice-presidential candidate. The Federalists chose southern diplomat Thomas Pinckney to go with New
Englander John Adams. The Republicans paired Jefferson,a Virginian, with Aaron Burr, the up-and-coming New York lawyer.


THE WINNER: JOHN ADAMS

The electors voted in their respective state capitals on the first Wednesday of December, 1796. The ballots were not supposed to be opened until February, 1797, when both houses of Congress were in session. But by the middle of December, the cat was out of the bag and everyone knew that John Adams had squeaked into the presidency, 71 votes to 68 for Jefferson.

Adams was president but Jefferson, with the second most votes, was his vice-president. Jefferson was of the opposite party plus they didn't like each other. Over the next four years, this would mean nothing but trouble. (It would be like Barack Obama being president and John McCain vice-president.)

Of all the good decisions the Founding Fathers made in writing the Constitution the idea of the #1 and #2 electoral vote getters being president and vice-president was a huge mistake. The biggest error in their judgment was they did not forsee the formation of political parties. Political parties made it impossible for the #1 and #2 electoral vote getters to get along and govern effectively.