[3] Adams received 34 electoral votes, one short of a majority because the Constitution did not require an outright majority in the Electoral College prior to ratification of the Twelfth Amendment to elect a runner-up as vice president, Adams was elected to that post. The enormously popular Washington was distinguished as the former Commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Washington brought the book home to Mount Vernon after retiring from the presidency in March 1797. The Khmer Rouge, organized by Pol Pot in the Cambodian jungle in the 1960s, advocated a radical Communist revolution that would wipe out read more, You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen because of the 1823 poem A Visit From St. Nicholas (aka Twas the Night Before Christmas), but your knowledge of Rudolphthe most famous reindeer of allcomes courtesy of a department store copywriter named Robert L. May, Mays read more, On January 7, 1999, the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, formally charged with lying under oath and obstructing justice, begins in the Senate. Aaron Burr, New Yorks attorney general, was briefly considered as a Republican candidate as well but ultimately ceded to Clinton. He was also one of the anonymous writers responsible for the Federalist Papers in the lead-up to the creation of the United States Constitution. A great crowd broke into cheers as Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall, took the oath administered by Chancellor Robert Livingston and retired indoors to read to Congress his inaugural address. Historian Edward J. Larsen discusses Washington's first inauguration in this video from Mount Vernon on Vimeo. (a) Only 6 of the 15 states chose electors by any form of popular vote, while pre-Twelfth Amendment electoral vote rules obscure the intentions of the voters, and those states that did choose electors by popular vote restricted the vote via property requirements. Adams lost all of the electoral votes of Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Georgia. Though he's repeatedly (and falsely) claimed that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against him, Donald Trump believes he could have won a race . The remainder of the votes were divided among 10 other candidates. The states chose 135 electors, out of whom 132 cast ballots. 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. Major General William Howe Howe directed British troops during the early years of the war. Many of these names are no longer widely known following their loss and lack of later political achievement. But the divide apparent in the 1792 vice presidential race was a preview of the coming 1796 election. Members of the U.S. Congress, though, cant be electors. His candidacy and subsequent victory are of little surprise, considering his place in United States history and politics. Those chosen would cast their votes a month later, on February 4. On Feb. 4, 1789, electors convened in 10 states to cast their ballots. 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}"Electoral College Box Scores 17891996". Under this system, each elector cast two votes: the candidate who received the greatest number of votes (so long as they won a majority) became president, while the runner-up became vice president. "I walk on untrodden ground," was a frequent comment he made in the days leading up to his first inauguration. No one contested the election of George Washington, but he remained reluctant to run until the last minute, in . Though all states allowed some rudimentary form of popular vote, only six ratifying states allowed any form of popular vote specifically for presidential electors. On January 6, as a formality, the electoral votes are counted before Congress and on January 20, the commander in chief is sworn into office. The popular vote totals used are the elector from each party with the highest vote totals. 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. In most states, the congressional elections were recognized in some sense as a "struggle between the Treasury department and the republican interest," to use the words of Jefferson strategist John Beckley. Learn about the vital role that Washington played during our founding. The remaining 35 electoral votes were split among 10 different candidates, including John Jay, who finished second with nine electoral votes. The inaugural ceremony was performed on Wall Street, near the spot now marked by John Quincy Adams Wards statue of Washington. According to Article II of the Constitution, each elector in the Electoral College possessed two votes. Washingtons position as a commander in the Revolutionary War against Great Britain placed him in high esteem. The other six chose electors through some form involving a popular vote, though in only two states did the choice depend directly on a statewide vote. George Washington was the first President of the United States. 1st quadrennial U.S. presidential election, 17881789 United States presidential election, New York had ratified the Constitution but its, See "Alternative methods for choosing electors" under, "17881789 United States presidential election", Learn how and when to remove this template message, National Archives and Records Administration, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, "The Electoral College Count for the Presidential Election of 1789", 178889 United States House of Representatives elections, "National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present", "A Saturday Session in the First Congress | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives", "The Electoral Count for the Presidential Election of 1789", United States presidential election, 1789, Presidential Election of 1789: A Resource Guide, A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns, 17871825, "A Historical Analysis of the Electoral College", Initiated, co-wrote, 1769 Virginia Association, 178889 United States presidential election, Longfellow HouseWashington's Headquarters National Historic Site, George Washington and the Revolutionary War Door, General George Washington Resigning His Commission, Washington and Jefferson National Forests, WashingtonRochambeau Revolutionary Route, Chairman of the Marine Committee, 1775-1779, United States presidential election 17881789, Massachusetts Historical Society holdings, A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America, Family home and John Quincy Adams birthplace, Co-founder and second president, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence, Letters of Mrs. Adams, the Wife of John Adams, elections in which the winner lost the popular vote, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=17881789_United_States_presidential_election&oldid=1141583738, Articles needing additional references from April 2017, All articles needing additional references, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Pages using bar box without float left or float right, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, each elector chosen by voters statewide; however, if no candidate wins majority, state legislature appoints electors from top ten candidates, state divided into electoral districts, with one elector chosen per district by the voters of that district, state had not yet ratified the Constitution, two electors appointed by state legislature, each remaining elector chosen by state legislature from the two most popular candidates in each U.S. House district. Washington also did not run unopposed for the second election. 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. George Washington's copy of the Acts passed at a Congress of the United States of America (New-York, 1789) contains key founding documents establishing the Union: the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and a record of acts passed by the first Congress. [2] A group of Democratic-Republican leaders met in Philadelphia in October 1792 and selected Clinton as the party's vice presidential candidate.[3]. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Federalist. Did you know that President Washington never lived in Washington D.C.? Commenting on his re-election, Washington proclaimed, "I am again called upon by the voice of my country to execute the functions of its chief magistrate. Suffering from diminished physical abilities, Pres. Fifteen states cast electoral votes in 1792: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia. 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 Campaign and Election of 1796: Throughout Washington's presidency, Vice President Adams regarded himself as the heir apparent. The first presidential election Gilbert Stuart: portrait of George Washington They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. Washington spent eight days traveling from Virginia to New York for the inauguration. Thomas Jefferson predicted that a popular Northern leader such as Governor John Hancock of Massachusetts or John Adams, a former minister to Great Britain who had represented Massachusetts in Congress, would be elected vice president. Washington appeared on all 69 ballots, while nearly half the voters cast their second vote for John Adams, who was duly elected vice president. Six of the fifteen states chose electors by any form of popular vote. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2000. Thus, the contest for the Vice-Presidency was open. Of course, everyone also loves a president that served in the military as General Washington did. All Rights Reserved. Omissions? Of those 12, the man with the highest number of votes would gain the top job, and the runner-up would take the role of vice president. However, Clinton received only three electoral votes. Voting was hampered by poor communications and infrastructure and the labor demands imposed by farming. Those secondary votes allowed for the first vice president and would determine the direction of domestic politics for years to come. pp. Clinton, the Governor of New York and a former anti-Federalist leader, became the party's nominee after he won the backing of Jefferson and James Madison. [4], Nine of the 15 states eligible to chose representatives to the electoral college did so by a vote of the state legislature; the remaining six employed some form of popular vote. The book now resides within The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington. The vote totals of Kentucky and Virginia appear to be lost. This happened in the elections of 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000 and 2016. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-u-s-presidential-election. Sixty-nine electors voted out of a possible 91. However, neither of those cities was Washington, D.C., as the seat of government did not move there until 1800. View the Primary Source:Washingtons First Inaugural Address|Second Inaugural Address. The Presidency of George Washington. Further Resources About: Who Ran Against George Washington? But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The results of the 1789 U.S. presidential election are provided in the table. 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. Discover what made Washington "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen". Despite policy differences, Jefferson argued that the Union would fail without Washington, pointing out that, "North and South will hang together if they have you to hang on." Have Any U.S. Presidents Decided Not to Run For a Second Term? John Hancock did even worse. On January 7, 1927, the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team travels 48 miles west from Chicago to play their first game in Hinckley, Illinois. So, Washington and Adams held on to their roles for the second term. Our Digital Encyclopedia has all of the answers students and teachers need. That would make John Adams the leading person who ran against Washington in the 1788 election, as he served as the VP. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. Paullin, Charles O. On April 14, Washington received official confirmation from Congress that he had been elected the first President of the United States. Skeptics observe that Armstrong received his single vote from a Georgia elector. Although John Ramage (circa 1748-1802) is well-known among art historians and collectors of portrait miniatures, his name is not immediately associated with Washington portraiture. Although James Degnan went on the radio to plead for his daughters safety, the kidnapper never made any contact or read more, Just six days after the fall of the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship in Cuba, U.S. officials recognize the new provisional government of the island nation. Source (popular vote): A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 17871825[10]. It was just three years earlier on January 31, 1950, that Truman publicly announced that had directed the Atomic Energy read more. As the only true national, interregional hero, Washington--the inevitable president in 1789--had become the indispensable president. For the results of the previous election, see United States presidential election of 1789. The vote totals of Virginia appear to be incomplete. President Washington's inauguration was celebrated with illuminations and fireworks. Though no organized political parties yet existed, political opinion loosely divided between those who had more stridently and enthusiastically endorsed ratification of the Constitution, called Federalists or Cosmopolitans, and Anti-Federalists or Localists who had only more reluctantly, skeptically, or conditionally supported, or who had outright opposed ratification. 2023 Mount Vernon Ladies Association. At that moment, the Chancellor of the State of New York, Robert Livingston, the person who administered the oath to the first chief executive, exclaimed, "Long live George Washington, President of the United States! Ramage was in Boston, Massachusetts when the Revolutionary War broke out. These men would cast their votes just under a month later, on February 4th. Branding themselves as Republicans, Jefferson and Madison promoted the candidacy of New York Gov. However, the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists contested the vice-presidency, with incumbent John Adams as the Federalist nominee and George Clinton as the Democratic-Republican nominee. George Washington had wished to retire at the end of his first term in office. Please select which sections you would like to print: John M. Cunningham graduated from Kalamazoo College in 2000 with a B.A. Behind Washington, John Adams, who most recently had served as the first U.S. ambassador to Great Britain, finished with 34 electoral votes and became the first vice president of the United States. Mount Vernon is owned and maintained by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union, a private, non-profit organization. Washington is generally held by historians to have run unopposed. He received the congressional notification about his win on April 16th before taking part in the first-ever inauguration on April 30th. Having lost the vice president position, he was appointed the 1st Chief Justice by President Washington. ", On April 30, 1789, at Federal Hall in New York City, the first capital of the United States, Washington took the presidential oath of office. Citizens of the new nation showed up in droves. Carrying large and small states, northern and southern states, Washington received 132 electoral votes, one vote from each participant in the Electoral College. In both the election of 1789 and 1792 Washington received all votes from the Electoral College. They find this improbable because Armstrong of Pennsylvania was not nationally famoushis public service to that date consisted of being a medical officer during the American Revolution and, at most, a single year as a Pennsylvania judge. 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. 19. level 2. Thomas Jefferson resigned his post as Secretary of State in 1792, while James Madison organized an anti-administration front in the Congress. Corrections? Every U.S. Presidential Election Since 1789. Which president candidate ran against George W. Bush in 2004? President before election. Although Washington had been considering retiring, both sides encouraged him to remain in office to bridge factional differences. Discover the Home of George and Martha Washington, The Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington. With 69 electoral votes, Washington won the support of each participating elector. Landy, Marc, and Sidney M. Milkis. The American People as Christian White Men of Property:Suffrage and Elections in Colonial and Early National America. Chernow, Ron (2004). Greenstein, Fred I. The vice-presidential vote split between John Adams (34), John Jay (9), Robert Harrison (6), and John Rutledge (6). Her entourage attracted considerable attention and was greeted by crowded streets filled with admirers, ringing church bells, fireworks, and gun salutes. Who ran against George Washington for the role of president? HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. A series of electors from each state would cast their votes for the chosen candidates one first-choice pick and one second-choice. This time, the field was narrow. Despite fears that Fidel Castro, whose rebel army helped to overthrow Batista, might have communist leanings, the U.S. read more, In his final State of the Union address before Congress, President Harry S. Truman tells the world that that the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb. Spend the day with us! Boller, Paul, Jr. Presidential Campaigns. Adams, meanwhile, was backed by the Federalist Party in his bid for another term. In addition, New York was unable to participate in the election, as the legislature had not passed a bill in time to appoint its eight electors. *Electors were chosen by legislatures in many states, not by popular vote. President Washington ran unopposed, as he was the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties nominee. Three states eligible to do so declined due to political tensions at the time North Carolina, Rhode Island, and New York. The next highest total was that of Founding Father, He was also one of the anonymous writers responsible for the, He received the congressional notification about his win on April 16th before taking part in the first-ever, Washingtons Election for the Second Presidential Term. 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. 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. February 2011. Electoral rules of the time required each presidential elector to cast two votes without distinguishing which was for president and which for vice president. As a result, his signature on the new Constitution was a deciding endorsement for some of those who had opposed federalization. In 1792, Washington received all 132 electoral votes, winning each of the fifteen states. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. But Washington himself did absolutely no public campaigning, and even cast doubt on whether he would take the job if elected. OnMay 16 1789, Mrs. Washington and her grandchildren, Nelly and Washy, embarked on an 11-day journey through Baltimore, Philadelphia, and more. READ MORE: Every U.S. Presidential Election Since 1789. It was held from Friday, November 4 to Wednesday, December 7, 1796. Aware that he would be closely scrutinized, Washington self-consciously chose clothing and household furnishings that would convey a particular message about his style and character. Between December 15, 1788 and January 10, 1789, the presidential electors were chosen in each of the states. Retrieved July 30, 2005. But there was never any evidence that it was true. Washingtons first inauguration occurred in New York City on the portico of Federal Hall in Lower Manhattan on April 30, 1789. States had varying methods for choosing presidential electors. 2023 Mount Vernon Ladies Association. 1820 Presidential Election. After he agreed to come out of retirement, he was elected with ease unanimously; Washington did not select a running mate as that concept was not yet developed. (b) Two electors from Maryland and one elector from Vermont did not cast votes. The elections of 1792 were the first ones in the United States to be contested on anything resembling a partisan basis. From there, the rest of the field received very few votes each. United States presidential election, 1792, Last edited on 23 February 2023, at 01:14, 179293 United States House of Representatives elections, List of 1792 United States presidential electors, "National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present", "1792 President of the United States, Electoral College", "A New Nation Votes - VA US President Race - Nov 00, 1792", "The Electoral Count for the Presidential Election of 1789", "A Historical Analysis of the Electoral College", A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns, 1787-1825, Presidential Election of 1792: A Resource Guide, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1792_United_States_presidential_election&oldid=1141036351, state is divided into electoral districts, with one elector chosen per district by the voters of that district, each elector appointed by the state legislature, two Congressional districts chose five electors each; the remaining two districts chose three electors, each elector chosen by majority vote of voters in Congressional district, if an insufficient number of electors are chosen by majority vote from a Congressional district, remaining electors would be appointed by the state legislature, each elector chosen by majority vote of voters statewide, if an insufficient number of electors are chosen by majority vote, runoff is held between the top 2, This page was last edited on 23 February 2023, at 01:14. (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. Unanimously elected twice, President George Washington helped shape the office's future role and powers, as well as set both formal and informal precedents for future presidents. His journey northward was a celebratory procession as people in every town and village through which he passed turned out to greet him, often with banners and speeches and in some places with triumphal arches. First ones in the military as General Washington did so declined due to political tensions at end... After retiring from the presidency in March 1797 Primary Source: washingtons who ran against george washington in the first election Address|Second! From Virginia to New York for the second election owned and maintained by the Mount Vernon is owned and by. Print: John M. 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