House of Representatives resolves the Jefferson–Burr electoral tie
- When
- 1801
- Where
- United States Capitol
- Episodes
- 1
In February 1801, the House of Representatives resolved the electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. After thirty-six ballots, the House elected Jefferson as President and Burr as Vice President, ending the deadlock that threatened to leave Federalist John Marshall as Acting President.
Episodes
Background and detail
Background. The 1800 election resulted in a tie between Jefferson and Burr in the Electoral College. The outgoing House, elected in 1798, was responsible for the contingent election. Democratic-Republicans feared Federalists might engineer a victory for Burr or refuse to break the deadlock, potentially leaving Federalist Secretary of State John Marshall as Acting President.
Outcome. On February 17, 1801, after thirty-six ballots, the House elected Jefferson as President and Burr as Vice President. This resolved the tie and established the new administration. The relationship between Jefferson and Burr subsequently eroded, and the event contributed to the later ratification of the Twelfth Amendment.
People involved
- Thomas Jefferson · President-elect
- Aaron Burr · Vice President-elect
- John Marshall · Federalist Secretary of State
Sources
- Thomas Jefferson Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-30
- 1800 United States presidential election Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-27
- Aaron Burr Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-25
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.