A little background on the Electoral College is useful at this
juncture, because the system operated slightly differently back then:
Electors did not cast separate votes for President and Vice President,
as they do today. Instead, electors cast two ballots for President. Once
these votes were tallied, the first place winner became President and
the second place winner became Vice President. Ratification of the 12th
Amendment changed this procedure. But, in the meantime, Adams and
Jefferson were competing for the White House under the old system.
When the electoral votes were tallied, Adams had placed first with 71 electoral votes. Thus, he was inaugurated President in March 1797. In the meantime, Jefferson’s 68 electors put him in second place, and he was inaugurated Vice President. Can you imagine what it would be like to have a President and Vice President from different political parties?
Would one be a sore loser?
Would they be able to work together productively, at all?
Or would the President and his advisors constantly undermine the Vice President, hoping to prevent his success in the next election?
The potential for these problems prompted Elbridge Gerry to write Jefferson in the wake of the 1796 election. Gerry told Jefferson of his concern that “the consequence of this election will be repeat[ed stratagems, to] weaken or destroy the confidence of the P and VP in each other . . . .”
Jefferson had several thoughts. First, he wasn’t angling to run for President in the first place, and he was perfectly happy to find himself in the vice presidential chair. “The second office of this government,” he told Gerry, “is honorable and easy. The first is but a splendid misery.” However, he assumed that some people would think that he had his eye on the presidency. He continued: “I consider as a certainty that nothing will be left untried to alienate [Adams] from me. . . . I cannot help fearing that it is impossible for Mr. Adams to believe that the state of my mind is what it really is; that he may think I view him as an obstacle in my way. . . . This may be a source of private uneasiness to us. I honestly confess that it is so to me at this time.”
Indeed, the relationship between Jefferson and Adams did falter. Jefferson became particularly upset a few years later when he was finally elected President in 1800. Adams appointed several federal judges on his way out the door, just before Jefferson’s inauguration. Jefferson would later tell Abigail Adams: “I can say with truth that one act of Mr. Adams’s life, and only one ever gave me a moment’s personal displeasure. I did consider his last appointments to office as personally unkind. They were from among my most ardent political enemies, from whom no faithful co-operation could ever be expected.”
These two men had been friends for years, but they lost their friendship during their years in the White House. That break lasted for a while, but their relationship was fortunately renewed in 1812. The correspondence that flowed between those two men during the last decade of their lives was rich and full of interesting observations about our founding.
But that is a story for another day!
P.S. Okay, guys, so I meant to write a completely different history story for this morning, but I ran out of time. Stay tuned. I should be able to finish it and run a second, bonus post in a few hours wink emoticon Here's your tease for the story: Did the American Revolution start as early as 1771?! wink emoticon
-------------
If you enjoyed this post, please don't forget to “like” and SHARE.
Our schools and media don’t always teach the stories of our founding! Let’s do it ourselves.
Gentle reminder: History posts are copyright © 2013-2015 by Tara Ross. I appreciate it when you use the FB “share” feature instead of cutting/pasting.
#TDIH #AmericanHistory #USHistory #liberty #freedom #ShareTheHistory
When the electoral votes were tallied, Adams had placed first with 71 electoral votes. Thus, he was inaugurated President in March 1797. In the meantime, Jefferson’s 68 electors put him in second place, and he was inaugurated Vice President. Can you imagine what it would be like to have a President and Vice President from different political parties?
Would one be a sore loser?
Would they be able to work together productively, at all?
Or would the President and his advisors constantly undermine the Vice President, hoping to prevent his success in the next election?
The potential for these problems prompted Elbridge Gerry to write Jefferson in the wake of the 1796 election. Gerry told Jefferson of his concern that “the consequence of this election will be repeat[ed stratagems, to] weaken or destroy the confidence of the P and VP in each other . . . .”
Jefferson had several thoughts. First, he wasn’t angling to run for President in the first place, and he was perfectly happy to find himself in the vice presidential chair. “The second office of this government,” he told Gerry, “is honorable and easy. The first is but a splendid misery.” However, he assumed that some people would think that he had his eye on the presidency. He continued: “I consider as a certainty that nothing will be left untried to alienate [Adams] from me. . . . I cannot help fearing that it is impossible for Mr. Adams to believe that the state of my mind is what it really is; that he may think I view him as an obstacle in my way. . . . This may be a source of private uneasiness to us. I honestly confess that it is so to me at this time.”
Indeed, the relationship between Jefferson and Adams did falter. Jefferson became particularly upset a few years later when he was finally elected President in 1800. Adams appointed several federal judges on his way out the door, just before Jefferson’s inauguration. Jefferson would later tell Abigail Adams: “I can say with truth that one act of Mr. Adams’s life, and only one ever gave me a moment’s personal displeasure. I did consider his last appointments to office as personally unkind. They were from among my most ardent political enemies, from whom no faithful co-operation could ever be expected.”
These two men had been friends for years, but they lost their friendship during their years in the White House. That break lasted for a while, but their relationship was fortunately renewed in 1812. The correspondence that flowed between those two men during the last decade of their lives was rich and full of interesting observations about our founding.
But that is a story for another day!
P.S. Okay, guys, so I meant to write a completely different history story for this morning, but I ran out of time. Stay tuned. I should be able to finish it and run a second, bonus post in a few hours wink emoticon Here's your tease for the story: Did the American Revolution start as early as 1771?! wink emoticon
-------------
If you enjoyed this post, please don't forget to “like” and SHARE.
Our schools and media don’t always teach the stories of our founding! Let’s do it ourselves.
Gentle reminder: History posts are copyright © 2013-2015 by Tara Ross. I appreciate it when you use the FB “share” feature instead of cutting/pasting.
#TDIH #AmericanHistory #USHistory #liberty #freedom #ShareTheHistory
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