John Ferling, _Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800_

THIS HAD BEEN sitting on my shelf for few years (published 2004) before I decided to read it, along about May, mainly wondering whether the 2020 presidential election was truly the bitterest, most contested, most vicious in U. S. history, or just seemed that way. Having read this book, I'm thinking, yes, it may have been. But at least we were spared having the election thrown into the House of Representatives.

1800 was the fourth presidential election under the new (as of 1787) Constitution, and the first seriously contested one. Incumbent John Adams, of the Federalist Party, had had a bumpy first term, thanks to conflict with France (having its own bumpy days under the Directoire, then Napoleon after the 18th Brumaire). Thomas Jefferson, of the Republican Party (or Democrat-Republicans), wanted peace with France, an expanded electorate, protection of the Bill of Rights (the Adams administration had brought in the infamous Alien & Sedition Acts), and dismantling of the national financing created by Alexander Hamilton.

Both parties saw themselves as inheritors and defenders of the sacred principles of the Revolution, and thought the republic would be doomed if the other party won. So feelings were high, occasionally violent. Very like 2020.

On the other hand, both Adams and Jefferson were actual statesmen who had contributed significantly to the creation of the state, and both were capable of governing. No Trump-esque charlatans in this election.

Jefferson won, as you know, which could be seen as a victory for the progress of democracy, except that his edge in electoral votes was due to three-fifths of the enslaved populations in the southern states counting towards the size of their Congressional delegation. Adams was anti-slavery, at least.

As in 2020, there were stirrings among the defeated, looking for ways to flip the results--nothing came of them. There was nonetheless another dramatic episode. Due to the peculiarities of how the Electoral College worked in those days, Jefferson's main rival in the House election was his own running mate, Aaron Burr. Burr was more appealing than Jefferson to a lot of Federalist Congressmen, and he was advancing himself as a compromise candidate. Hamilton (who had a lot of clout with the Federalists) hated Burr even worse than he hated Jefferson, though, and used his influence against him. Burr wound up as vice-president, but one even more sidelined than usual.

Adams skipped Jefferson's inauguration, becoming the first of the three (so far) presidents who have chosen not to be present for their successor's inaugural. Adams's son John Quincy Adams, who absented himself from Andrew Jackson's inaugural, was the second, and DJT the third.

So...tumultuous, yes--bitter, violent, ugly--but 2020 may be the champ. Unless 1860 was...2020 has not led to a civil war. Yet.