Thefirst draft of over seventy pages had been prepared by Washington's aide David Humphreys and included extensive recommendations to Congress on such topics as internal improvements, military affairs, international treaties, and the expansion of national borders. Corrections? No one contested the election of George Washington, but he remained reluctant to run until the last minute, in . *Electors were chosen by legislatures in many states, not by popular vote. Although Washington had been considering retiring, both sides encouraged him to remain in office to bridge factional differences. The complete list of candidates was as follows. The vote totals of Virginia appear to be incomplete. (c) Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements. Source: A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825[10], The Constitution, in Article II, Section 1, provided that the state legislatures should decide the manner in which their Electors were chosen. All Rights Reserved. Washington never really ran for president. ISBN9780786410170. In 1792, Washington received all 132 electoral votes, winning each of the fifteen states. Washington was essentially unopposed, but Adams faced a competitive re-election against Governor George Clinton of New York. Please select which sections you would like to print: John M. Cunningham graduated from Kalamazoo College in 2000 with a B.A. He would spend a difficult second term desperately preserving the new nation in the face of rebellion and foreign wars. The 17881789 United States presidential election was the first quadrennial presidential election. Three states were ineligible to participate in the election: New York's legislature did not choose electors on time, and North Carolina and Rhode Island had not ratified the constitution yet. The Iowa Journal of History and Politics 2 (1904): 3-33. The deadlock still stood on January 7, 1789, the last day for electors to be chosen by the states, and New York thus failed to appoint the eight electors allocated to it by the constitution. A History of U.S. Presidential Elections in Maps, https://www.britannica.com/event/United-States-presidential-election-of-1789, George Washington's Mount Vernon - Presidential Election of 1789, Maps of World - U.S. Presidential Election 1789, Gilbert Stuart: portrait of George Washington, United States presidential election of 1792. Adams lost all of the electoral votes of Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Georgia. Of these, complete returns from Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania survive; surviving returns from Virginia are incomplete, and popular vote records from Kentucky are not known to exist. Have Any U.S. Presidents Decided Not to Run For a Second Term? In most states only white men, and in many only those who owned property, could vote. John Jay was similar to John Adams regarding his influence in politics and foreign affairs. The result is interesting, considering Clintons poor showing in the first presidential election. All of his notes in this volume appear alongside the text of the Constitution, where he drew neat brackets to highlight passages of particular interest. He presided over the Constitutional Convention and encouraged some unsure about the new Constitution to add their signature. No other president since has come into office with a universal mandate to lead. All Rights Reserved. According to Article II of the Constitution, each elector in the Electoral College possessed two votes. Adams received 77 votes as Washington's running mate on the Federalist ticket to 50 for Democratic-Republican George Clinton, 4 for Thomas Jefferson, and 1 for Aaron Burr. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. As per the terms of the unamended constitution, each elector was permitted two votes for president, with a majority of "the whole number of electors appointed" necessary to elect a president. Boller, Paul, Jr. Presidential Campaigns. Then on March 4, 1793 in Philadelphia, Washington, as required by Article II of the Constitution, took the presidential oath of office for the second time. "I walk on untrodden ground," was a frequent comment he made in the days leading up to his first inauguration. United States presidential election of 1789, American presidential election held on Feb. 4, 1789, in which George Washington was unanimously chosen as the first president of the United States by electors from 10 of the 13 extant states. He was bothered and disheartened by the emerging political divisions. 3 (September 2006): 373-390. Because of this, it is difficult to use modern-day terminology to describe the relationship among the candidates in this election. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. There he enlisted in a unit formed by Irish Loyalists to fight the American colonials and General Washingtons Continental Army. It was the first contested American presidential election . On Feb. 13, 1793, the votes were counted during a joint session of Congress. These men would cast their votes just under a month later, on February 4th. The remaining 35 electoral votes were split among 10 candidates, including John Jay, who finished third with nine electoral votes. Your email address will not be published. Open 365 days a year, Mount Vernon is located just 15 miles south of Washington DC. Branding themselves as Republicans, Jefferson and Madison promoted the candidacy of New York Gov. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty. On Feb. 4, 1789, electors convened in 10 states to cast their ballots. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is the first incumbent in 40 years to be ousted after just one term. Voter turnout comprised a low single-digit percentage of the adult population. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. was voting in a mayoral election for the first time since moving to the city four years ago . Mount Vernon Ladies Association. With a hand on the Bible, a "sacred volume" borrowed from a local Masonic lodge and subsequently known as the "George Washington Inaugural Bible," he said, "I, George Washington, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." The United States presidential election of 1820 was the third and last presidential election in United States history in which a candidate ran effectively unopposed. One of the reasons we rarely hear about the presidential race and competition for the top job was that Washingtons presidency was a foregone conclusion. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). (b) Pre-Twelfth Amendment electoral vote rules obscure the intentions of the voters(c) Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements. Who did George Washington run against? On the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December of a presidential election year, each states electors meet, usually in their state capitol, and simultaneously cast their ballots nationwide. Voters cast ballots to choose state electors; only white men who owned property were allowed to vote. Who ran against George Washington for the role of president? New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998. Washington believed that the precedents he set must make the presidency powerful enough to function effectively in the national government, but at the same time these practices could not show any tendency toward monarchy or dictatorship. Print. He presided over the Constitutional Convention and encouraged some unsure about the new Constitution to, There Were 12 Candidates on the Final Ballot, John Adams Was a Worthy and Popular Opponent, He was arguably more influential on the world stage than Washington, having played an important role in the Continental Congress and the, Other Well-Known Figures Didnt Do As Well, From there, the rest of the field received very few votes each. No other president since has come into office with a universal mandate to lead. Following the ratification of the Constitution by the necessary nine states in July of 1788, Congress set January 7 of the following year as the date by which states were required to choose electors. Sixty-nine electors voted out of a possible 91. Two other candidates won the five remaining electoral votes. Chernow, Ron (2004). Strange, Fun and Weird Facts about US Presidents. Congress sets January 7, 1789 as the date by which states are required to choose electors for the country's first-ever presidential election. Indeed, the incumbent president enjoyed bipartisan support and received one vote from every elector. Paullin, Charles O. The Constitution established an Electoral College, based on each state's Congressional representation, in which each elector would cast two votes for two candidates, a procedure modified in 1804 by the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment. As a result, he became the first Vice President of the United States. For the results of the subsequent election, see United States presidential election of 1796. On February 4, 1789, the 69 members of the Electoral College made George Washington the only chief executive to be unanimously elected. The successful execution of a second democratic election in the United States helped legitimize the institution of the American presidency. We don't accept government funding and rely upon private contributions to help preserve George Washington's home and legacy. Donald Trump said he could beat George Washington in an election, even with Abraham Lincoln as running mate. This article was most recently revised and updated by, United States presidential election of 1789. In an August 1788 letter, U.S. Minister to France Thomas Jefferson wrote that he considered John Adams and John Hancock, both from Massachusetts, to be the top contenders. After a private meeting at Mount Vernon, Madison prepared a drastically more concise address whichleft more open to Congress's discretion. Washington was both an obvious first choice for president and possibly the only truly viable choice. Under the Articles of Confederation, which were ratified in 1781, the United States had no head of state. Updates? From the mansion to lush gardens and grounds, intriguing museum galleries, immersive programs, and the distillery and gristmill. He formed the Democratic-Republican Party along with Anti-Federalist Thomas Jefferson in 1792. Washington, who remained immensely popular throughout the United States, thus eventually agreed to run for reelection in 1792. Because the two houses of the New York legislature could not agree on electors, the state did not cast its electoral vote. Source (popular vote): A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 17871825[10]. North Carolina and Rhode Island were unable to participate because they had not yet ratified the Constitution. On the evening of January 7, 1955, the curtain at the Metropolitan Opera in New York rises to reveal Marian Anderson, the first African American to perform with the Met. Our Digital Encyclopedia has all of the answers students and teachers need. However, officially, there were three names on the ballot, with the other two deemed presidential candidates on a technicality. [4] Congress took twenty-eight days to assemble. Clinton was from an electorally important swing state, and he convinced party leaders that he would be a stronger candidate than another New Yorker, Senator Aaron Burr. On the other hand, Washington could not escape his conscience. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1982. This is also how John Adams ended up as our first vice president. His persistence and devotion to his men and his perpetual mindfulness of the ideals for which they were fighting won him the respect and loyalty of many. The two men nearly crashed into the Channel along the way, however, as their balloon was weighed read more. Florida Gov. Further Resources About: Who Ran Against George Washington? This was the only U.S. presidential election that spanned two calendar years without a contingent election and the first national presidential election in American history. They had no chance of unseating Washington, but hoped to win the vice presidency by defeating the incumbent, Adams. With 69 electoral votes, Washington won the support of each participating elector. United States presidential election of 1792, American presidential election held in 1792, in which George Washington unanimously won a second term as president of the United States. Greenstein, Fred I. Washington received 132 electoral votes, one from each elector. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday will release his book, "The Courage to be Free," to much anticipation ahead of his expected plunge into the 2024 presidential race. The recipient of the most votes would then become president, and the runner-up vice president. Thomas Jefferson resigned his post as Secretary of State in 1792, while James Madison organized an anti-administration front in the Congress. (a) Only six of the 11 states eligible to cast electoral votes chose electors by any form of popular vote. The second presidential election represented and reflected the democratic idea that presidential elections every four years would be a regular and frequent feature of American politics. Source: .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:#d33}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#3a3;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}Dubin, Michael J. Between December 15, 1788 and January 10, 1789, the presidential electors were chosen in each of the states. We don't accept government funding and rely upon private contributions to help preserve George Washington's home and legacy. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, 1983. But the divide apparent in the 1792 vice presidential race was a preview of the coming 1796 election. We don't accept government funding and rely upon private contributions to help preserve George Washington's home and legacy. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. For example, Alexander Hamilton spoke for national opinion when in a letter to Washington attempting to persuade him to leave retirement on his farm in Mount Vernon to serve as the first President, he wrote that "the point of light in which you stand at home and abroad will make an infinite difference in the respectability in which the government will begin its operations in the alternative of your being or not being the head of state.". Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Washington was elected unanimously, receiving one vote from every elector. 6577. Suffering from diminished physical abilities, Pres. On March 1, 1792, the U.S. Congress had approved a law that regulated the procedures by which a president and vice president of the United States were chosen. (g) The identity of this candidate comes from The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections (Gordon DenBoer (ed. Answer (1 of 5): At the founding of the Republic, it was not expected that anyone would run for President. The Constitution stipulated that the position would be awarded to the runner-up in the Presidential election. Of the 69 participating electors, each cast one vote for Washington, who was elected president. The election took place following the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1788. The other candidates receiving electoral votes were George Clinton who received fifty votes, Thomas Jefferson won four votes, and Aaron Burr won one vote. Reichley, A. James. It was held from Monday, December 15, 1788, to Saturday, January 10, 1789, under the new Constitution ratified that same year. The first presidential election was held on the first Wednesday of January in 1789. Today political parties usually nominate their slate of electors at their state conventions or by a vote of the partys central state committee, with party loyalists often being picked for the job. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Learn more abouthow George Washington shaped the role and function of the President of the United States. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. In addition to defining the actual powers of the office, Washington also needed to show the new nation how the leader of a democracy should behave socially. Creating the American Presidency, 1775-1789. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2000. The Mount Vernon Ladies Association has been maintaining the Mount Vernon Estate since they acquired it from the Washington family in 1858. (Two electors from Maryland and two from Virginia neglected to vote; the New York State Legislature was deadlocked and no electors were appointed from that state.) One of the ragged legions of gold and silver prospectors who combed the Rocky Mountains searching for fortune in the 1860s,AlferdPacker also supplemented his meager income read more, On January 7, 1891, Zora Neale Hurston, novelist and folklorist, is born inNotasulga, Alabama. Although electors arent constitutionally mandated to vote for the winner of the popular vote in their state, it is demanded by tradition and required by law in 26 states and the District of Columbia (in some states, violating this rule is punishable by $1,000 fine). A Whig who sympathized with the Americans, Howe took over as the commander in chief of the British Army in 1776. [7], Source (Popular Vote): A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825[8]. (a) Only 6 of the 15 states chose electors by any form of popular vote. So, Washington and Adams held on to their roles for the second term. On Democracy. Answer: The first presidential elections were conducted under a system that allowed electors to cast two votes, with the winner becoming President and the second place finisher becoming Vice President. The Federalist Party threw its support behind the incumbent vice president, John Adams of Massachusetts, while the Democratic-Republican Party backed the candidacy of New York Governor George Clinton. After winning the Revolutionary War and helping set up the new government for his country at the Constitutional Convention, George Washington'sthoughts turned away from battlefields and assembly halls to a much more modest arena-- his home at his Mount Vernon estate -- and the opportunity of "living and dying a private citizen on my own farm.". Each state is allowed to choose as many electors as it has senators and representatives in Congress. Three states eligible to do so declined due to political tensions at the time North Carolina, Rhode Island, and New York. Being from Massachusetts, Adams election provided the administration a regional balance between the South and North. [2] In five states, the state legislature chose electors. The sitting took place on October 3, 1789, probably in the president's official residence on Cherry Street in New York. "Alexander Hamilton". Defenders of Washingtons policies would become the Federalist Party. Source: "The Electoral College Count for the Presidential Election of 1789". Web. State legislatures chose different methods:[19].
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