Hello, and welcome back to another edition of Lace ‘Em Up’s Presidential Election series. Today we will be going over the re-election of George Washington as well as the partisan issues that are developing in the meanwhile with the election of 1792.

Washington’s First Term

Upon being the country’s first elected President, George Washington had the duty of establishing the role of commander-in-chief and this saw him making decisions such as who would be a part of his cabinet and ensuring the economy remained stable during his term.

Despite his reluctance to run for a second term, Washington was persuaded to do so as he was seen as the only person to keep the peace in a series of growing tensions.

Much like the previous election, Washington’s victory was never in doubt, however things were more complicated when it came to the Vice Presidential race.

A Line In The Sand

Even before the 1788-89 election, frictions began to emerge between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists also known as the Democratic-Republicans.

By 1792, all of the states that made up the United States at the time ratified the Constitution meaning the anti-feds needed to find a new ideology to stand for. Under the leadership of Thomas Jefferson, the Democratic Republicans believed that the United States should be an agrarian-like community which focuses more on agriculture, limiting executive power, favouring State’s Rights whilst opposing the idea of tariffs and a national bank.

The Federalists on the other hand, favoured the idea of a strong federal government and pushed for a national bank in order to have some economic growth in the U.S.; Led by Washington’s Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, but also includes politicians like the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Jay and Vice President John Adams among others.

While Washington himself was never a part of the Federalists or Anti-Federalists, he did support many of the Federalist ideas which enraged Jefferson and ultimately led to him resigning from his position as the Secretary of State.

Vice Presidential Ticket

John Adams, Washington’s current Vice President was the obvious pick for the Federalists Party while the Democratic-Republicans want someone else in that position, however the party has a little issue when it comes to picking a candidate.

You see, Thomas Jefferson was looking to challenge Adams for the VP spot but there’s something in the Constitution that prevents this from happening as Jefferson and Washington were both from Virginia and electors were not permitted to vote for candidates that come from the same home state.

Therefore, the Democratic-Republicans nominated former New York Governor George Clinton for the Vice Presidency, but some Anti-Federalists were not behind Clinton and instead they throw their votes to Thomas Jefferson and New York Senator, Aaron Burr.

The Election of 1792: The Results

Since the last election, all of the States that made up the United States at the time finally got around to ratifying the Constitution as previously mentioned and the new states of Vermont and Kentucky officially became a part of the U.S. in March of 1791 and June of 1792 respectively.

George Washington won re-election making him the first two-term President and the only one to win 100% of the electoral votes in two consecutive elections. Washington received 132 electoral votes, John Adams came in second with 77 electoral votes, George Clinton received 50 electoral votes, Thomas Jefferson got 4 votes and Aaron Burr only received one.

Even though George Washington warned against the creation of political parties and foreign alliances, it was far too late as the battle lines had been drawn between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans and by 1796 the war over who will be in charge as President will begin.

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