United States presidential election, 1792
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The United States presidential election of 1792 was the second presidential election in the United States, and the first in which each of the original 13 states appointed electors (in addition to newly added states Kentucky and Vermont).
As in 1789, President George Washington ran unopposed for a second term. Under the system in place then and through the election of 1800, each voting elector cast two votes — the recipient of the greatest number of votes was elected President, the second greatest number, Vice President. As with his first term, Washington is considered to have been elected unanimously.
The recipient of 77 electoral votes, Vice President John Adams, finished second in voting and was therefore re-elected Vice President of the United States.
Contents |
[edit] General election
[edit] Campaign
By this time, a party division had emerged between the Federalists led by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, who desired a stronger federal government with a leading role in the economy, and the Democratic-Republicans led by Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and Representative James Madison, who favored states' rights and opposed Hamilton's economic program; Madison at first was a Federalist until he opposed Hamilton's First Bank of the United States that was formed in 1791, and formed the Democratic-Republican Party with Anti-Federalist Thomas Jefferson in 1792.
The elections of 1792 were the first ones to be contested on anything resembling a partisan basis. In most states the congressional elections were recognized in some sense, as Jefferson strategist John Beckley put it, as a “struggle between the Treasury department and the republican interest.” In New York, the race for governor was organized along these lines. The candidates were Chief Justice John Jay, a Hamiltonian, and incumbent George Clinton, who was allied with Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans.
Although Washington had been considering retiring, both sides encouraged him to remain in office to bridge factional differences; Washington was supported by practically all sides throughout his Presidency and gained more popularity with the US Bill of Rights. However, the Democratic-Republicans and the Federalists contested the Vice Presidency, with incumbent John Adams as the Federalist nominee and George Clinton as the Democratic-Republican nominee. With some Democratic-Republican electors voting against their nominee George Clinton - voting instead for Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr - Adams easily was able to get re-elected Vice President once again.
[edit] Results
The Electoral College once again chose Washington unanimously. John Adams was again elected Vice President as the runner-up, this time getting the vote of a majority of electors. George Clinton won the votes of only Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, his native New York, and a single elector in Pennsylvania. Thomas Jefferson won the votes of Kentucky, newly separated from Jefferson's home state of Virginia. A single South Carolina elector voted for Aaron Burr.
[edit] Popular vote
| Slate | Popular Vote(a), (b), (c) | |
|---|---|---|
| Count | Percentage | |
| Federalist electors | 9,478 | 71.1% |
| Democratic-Republican electors | 3,854 | 28.9% |
| Total | 13,332 | 100.0% |
Source: U.S. President National Vote. Our Campaigns. (February 11, 2006).
(a) Only 6 of the 15 states chose electors by any form of popular vote.
(b) Less than 0.5% of the population voted: the 1790 Census counted a total United States population of 3.9 million with 3.2 million free population and 700 thousand slaves
(c) Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements.
[edit] Electoral vote
| Presidential Candidate | Party | Home State | Popular Vote(a) | Electoral Vote(b) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | Percentage | ||||
| George Washington | (none) | Virginia | 13,332 | 100.0% | 132 |
| John Adams | Federalist | Massachusetts | — | — | 77 |
| George Clinton | Democratic-Republican | New York | — | — | 50 |
| Thomas Jefferson | Democratic-Republican | Virginia | — | — | 4 |
| Aaron Burr | Democratic-Republican | New York | — | — | 1 |
| Total | 13,332 | 100.0% | 264 | ||
| Needed to win | 67 | ||||
Source: Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996. Official website of the National Archives. (July 30, 2005).
(a) Popular vote figures are suspect because (1) only 6 of the 15 states chose electors by any form of popular vote, (2) pre-Twelfth Amendment electoral vote rules obscure the intentions of the voters, and (3) those states that did choose electors by popular vote often restricted the vote via property requirements.
(b) Two electors from Maryland and one elector from Vermont did not cast votes.
[edit] Breakdown by ticket
| Presidential Candidate | Running Mate | Electoral Vote |
|---|---|---|
| George Washington | John Adams | 77 |
| George Washington | George Clinton | 50 |
| George Washington | Thomas Jefferson | 4 |
| George Washington | Aaron Burr | 1 |
[edit] Trivia
The election of 1792 was three -- not four -- years after the previous election (1789), but Washington's first term, beginning with his swearing-in on April 30, 1789, was almost four years long, since his second inauguration took place in March 1793. Since 1792, presidential elections have been held every four years.
[edit] Electoral college selection
| Method of choosing Electors | State(s) |
|---|---|
| state is divided into electoral districts, with one elector chosen per district by the voters of that district | Kentucky Virginia |
| each elector chosen by voters statewide | Maryland Pennsylvania |
|
Massachusetts |
|
New Hampshire |
| each elector appointed by the state legislature | (all other states) |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Berg-Andersson, Richard (2000-09-17). A Historical Analysis of the Electoral College. The Green Papers. Retrieved on March 20, 2005.
- Elkins, Stanley; McKitrick, Eric (1995). The Age of Federalism. Oxford University Press.
[edit] Navigation
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