1796 U.S. presidential election

Background. With incumbent president George Washington having refused a third term, the 1796 election became the first U.S. presidential election in which political parties competed for the presidency. As in the previous two presidential elections, no candidates were formally put forward for voters to choose between, but the contest was the first contested American presidential election.

Candidates and Campaign. John Adams, a Federalist and incumbent vice president who had served two terms under Washington, was elected under the Federalist banner. Democratic-Republican leaders met in June 1796 and agreed to support former secretary of state Thomas Jefferson for president and Aaron Burr for vice president. Republicans united behind Jefferson, and the election expanded democracy at the grassroots level nationwide.

Outcome and Aftermath. Jefferson lost the electoral college vote to Adams 71–68. Under the electoral laws of the time, Jefferson's second-place finish made him Adams's vice president. Congress counted the electoral results on February 8, 1797, with Adams, as President of the Senate, opening and reading the votes. Adams was sworn in as the nation's second president on March 4, 1797. The complications of the 1796 and 1800 elections later prompted the 12th Amendment's modification of the Electoral College.