Washington's Unanimous Electoral Victory
- When
- 1788–1789
- Where
- Electoral College vote assembly; United States; New York; Electoral College result
- Episodes
- 4
In the first U.S. presidential election under the new Constitution, all 69 electors present cast a vote for George Washington on February 4, 1789, making his election unanimous; John Adams became vice president with 34 electoral votes.
Episodes
- First national presidential election, 1788–89
The election spanned December 15, 1788 to January 7, 1789, the first national presidential election and the only one spanning two calendar years without a contingent election.
- New York's failure to appoint electors
A deadlock persisted through January 7, 1789, the final day for choosing electors, so New York failed to appoint its eight constitutionally allocated electors.
- Electoral College vote of February 4, 1789
Electors assembled on the scheduled day and every one of the 69 present voted for Washington, producing a unanimous election.
- Adams elected vice president as runner-up
John Adams received 34 electoral votes, one short of a majority; under pre-Twelfth Amendment rules the runner-up became vice president without needing a majority.
Background and detail
Background. Presidential elections were held from December 15, 1788 to January 7, 1789 under the Constitution ratified in 1788. The outgoing Congress of the Confederation announced the procedure on September 13, 1788, requiring electors to be chosen on January 7 and to assemble to vote on February 4. This was the first national presidential election in American history.
Campaign and Consensus. Both factions supported Washington for president. Alexander Hamilton, in a letter urging Washington to leave retirement at Mount Vernon, wrote that Washington's standing 'at home and abroad' would make an 'infinite difference' in the respectability with which the new government would begin its operations.
Electoral Outcome. All 69 electors present cast one vote for Washington, making his election unanimous—the first of his two terms. Adams received 34 electoral votes, one short of a majority; since the Constitution did not require an outright majority to elect the runner-up vice president before the Twelfth Amendment, Adams took that post.
People involved
- George Washington · President-elect; unanimously chosen by all 69 electors present
- John Adams · Vice president-elect; received 34 electoral votes, one short of a majority
- Alexander Hamilton · Advocate who urged Washington to accept the presidency
Sources
- 1788–89 United States presidential election Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-30
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.