Hats in the Ring: An Illustrated History of American Presidential Campaigns - Evan Cornog

Chapter 2: Divided Government Adams v. Jefferson Although the Founding Fathers' hopes for avoiding party strife had proved futile, and despite the fact that Washington himself had been attacked in print-"If ever a nation has been deceived by a man, the American Nation has been deceived by Washington," the Philadelphia Aurora proclaimed-the presidency was clearly his to keep for as long as he wished to remain in office. Until he stepped down, the defects in the electoral system were of little importance. As for the vice presidency, although it had already given rise to electoral scheming, the prize itself was hardly worth the effort. The first man to hold the office, John Adams, wrote to his wife, Abigail, "My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived." The vast gulf between the importance of the President and the insignificance of the Vice President was not, however, recognized in the electoral system, which still failed to allow electors to distinguish which vote each was casting for President and which for the second office. Once Washington disappeared from the scene, the possibilities for electoral intrigue would expand, and in 1796 and 1800 the flaws in the system became clear. But first there was the matter of Washington's intentions. Although in 1792 he had asked Madison to draft a farewell address for him, he had yielded to the entreaties of his closest advisers to serve at least part of a second term. But the second term had proved to be rockier than the first, with partisan feeling deepening and parties beginning their slow transformation from loose associations of like-minded leaders to broad-based popular organizations. The party splits of Washington's second term were aggravated by events in Europe. The opposing Federalist and Republican causes linked themselves to the fate of the two great Atlantic powers, Britain and France, respectively, which were engaged in the early stages of their decades-long struggle following the French Revolution. The initial reaction to that revolution had been very favorable-here was the flattering situation of the greatest nation of Europe following the lead of the United States. But America's economic ties to Britain, which had been central to Alexander Hamilton's financial system, meant that even as enthusiastic patriots were celebrating the new status of America's old ally France, powerful forces in the United States had many reasons to prefer closer ties to Britain. Of course, emotions were a bit confused, since it was King Louis XVI's army and navy that had helped America win independence. The declaration of the French Republic in 1792 may have swelled Republican breasts in the United States, but the subsequent execution of the king and queen outraged Americans when the news arrived early in 1793. While Washington's cabinet kept the United States out of the war between Britain and France, individual members of that body had their own particular sympathies. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson was a champion of the French Revolution and was happy for his political followers to try to capitalize on American enthusiasm for it. Alexander Hamilton, the secretary of the Treasury, was eager to keep relations with Britain as warm as circumstances allowed, and his followers were revolted by the excesses of the regicidal rulers of France. John Adams, the Vice President, had, like Jefferson, served America in France as a diplomat and had come home disliking the French as much as Jefferson had come home admiring them. Although Jefferson sought ways to avoid disappointing his enthusiastic followers, America's only plausible course was neutrality, and soon after news of France's declaration of war on Britain and Holland reached America in the spring of 1793, Washington duly issued a proclamation of American neutrality. [read more]