1788–89 United States presidential election

The 1788–89 United States presidential election was the first presidential election in the United States. It happened from Monday, December 15, 1788, to Saturday, January 10, 1789, under the new Constitution made official that same year. George Washington was elected with no opposition. This would be the first of two times he was elected, as he would serve two terms as president. John Adams became the first vice president. This was the only U.S. presidential election that took more than one calendar year (not counting ones that had a follow-up election). It was also the first national presidential election in America.

1788–89 United States presidential election

December 15, 1788 – January 10, 1789 (1788-12-15 – 1789-01-10)
69 members of the Electoral College 35 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout	11.6%
Nominee George Washington Party Independent Home state Virginia Running mate None Electoral vote 69 States carried 10 Popular vote 43,782 Percentage 100.0%
Presidential election results map. Green shows states that Washington won. Black states are states that didn't vote. The numbers in each state shows the number of votes given by each state.
President before election Office created Elected President George Washington Independent

Under the Articles of Confederation, which were created in 1781, the United States had no head of state. The executive function of government remained with the legislative similar to countries that use a parliamentary system. Federal power, which wasn't as powerful, was only managed by the Congress of the Confederation whose "President of the United States in Congress Assembled" was also chair of the Committee of the States which existed to do a job similar to that of the modern Cabinet.

The Constitution created the offices of President and Vice President, and separated their jobs from Congress. The Constitution made an Electoral College, based on each state's number of Congressmen, where each elector would make two votes for two candidates, a process changed in 1804 by the passing of the Twelfth Amendment. States had different ways for choosing presidential electors. In five states, the state government chose electors. The other six chose electors through, in some way, having the people vote. However, only two states had the population vote directly.

Washington, who was really popular, was well known as the past Commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. After he agreed to come out of retirement, he was easily elected by everyone. Because the vice president used to also be elected through the electoral college, Washington didn't choose one.

No political parties existed. However, most people called themselves Federalists or Anti-Federalists. Because of this, the contest for the Vice-President was anyone's game. Thomas Jefferson predicted that a popular leader from the North like John Hancock from Massachusetts or John Adams, a past American representative to Great Britain who had represented Massachusetts in Congress, would be elected vice president. Anti-Federalist leaders such as Patrick Henry, who didn't run, and George Clinton, who didn't like the Constitution, were also choices.

The entire electoral college, which had 69 people, made one vote for Washington, making his election an unopposed win. Adams won 34 votes and became vice president. The other 35 votes went to ten different people, like John Jay, who finished third with nine. Three states couldn't be in the election: New York's state government chose their electors too late and North Carolina and Rhode Island had not recognized the constitution yet. Washington was inaugurated in New York City on April 30, 1789, 57 days after the First Congress first met.

Candidates

Even though no political parties existed yet, people's opinions were a bit divided between those who had liked ratification (creation) of the Constitution, called Federalists also known as Cosmopolitans, and Anti-Federalists or Localists who either weren't sure about ratification or didn't like it at all. However, everyone supported Washington for President. Some campaining happened in divided places. For example, in Maryland, a state that let people vote, unofficial parties campaigned.

Federalist candidates

• 
  Former Minister to the Netherlands
  John Adams
  from Massachusetts
• 
  Secretary of Foreign Affairs
  John Jay
  from New York
• 
  Former Governor
  John Rutledge
  of South Carolina
• 
  Governor
  John Hancock
  of Massachusetts
• 
  Governor
  Samuel Huntington
  of Connecticut
• 
  Lieutenant Governor
  Benjamin Lincoln
  of Massachusetts

Anti-Federalist candidates

• 
  Governor
  George Clinton
  of New York

General election

Results by county explicitly indicating the percentage of the winning candidate in each county. Shades of yellow are for the Federalists.

Since no political parties existed, no process to decide Federalist and Anti-Federalist candidates existed at the time, and that caused most to expect Washington to win easily. For example, Alexander Hamilton agreed with the public's opinion when he wrote a letter to Washington attempting to persuade him to leave retirement on his farm in Mount Vernon to serve as President. He wrote that "...the point of light in which you stand at home and abroad will make an infinite difference in the respectability in which the government will begin its operations in the alternative of your being or not being the head of state."

Another thing people weren't sure of was who would be the candidate for the vice presidency, which didn't have a real description except being next in line to the presidency and watching over the Senate. The Constitution said that the job would be given to the second place person in the Presidential election. Since Washington was from Virginia, the largest state, many thought electors would choose a vice president from a different state, likely in the north. In a letter written in August 1788 , U.S. Minister to France Thomas Jefferson wrote that he thought John Adams and John Hancock, both from Massachusetts, would be the top people for vice president. Jefferson recommended John Jay, John Rutledge, and a candidate from Virginia, James Madison, as other possible winners. Adams received 34 votes, one short of a majority (over half). Since the Constitution didn't require a majority in the Electoral College before the creation of the Twelfth Amendment in 1804, Adams was elected.

The popular vote count was a low single-digit percentage of the adult population. Even though all states allowed some form of popular vote, only six states allowed any form of popular vote for presidential electors. In most states only white men, and in many only those who owned property, could vote. Free black men could vote in four Northern states, and women could vote in New Jersey until 1776. In some states, there was a religious test for voting. For example, in Massachusetts and Connecticut, the Congregational Church was made, supported by taxes. Voting was delayed a lot by bad communications and the heavy amount of work by farming. Two months passed after the election before the votes were counted and Washington was told he had been elected president. Washington took eight days to travel from Virginia to New York for the inauguration. Congress took twenty-eight days to assemble.

As the electors were selected, politics got in the way, and the process had many rumors and speculation. For example, Hamilton tried to ensure that Adams did not accidentally tie Washington in the electoral vote. Also, Federalists spread rumors that Anti-Federalists wanted to elect Richard Henry Lee or Patrick Henry president, with George Clinton as vice president. However, Clinton received only three votes.

Results

Popular vote

	Popular vote(a), (b), (c)
	Count	Percentage
Federalist electors	39,624	90.5%
Anti-Federalist electors	4,158	9.5%
Total	43,782	100.0%

Source: United States Presidential Elections, 1788-1860: The Official Results by Michael J. Dubin

^(a) Only six of the 11 states that were able to cast electoral votes chose electors by any type of popular vote.
^(b) Less than 1.8% of the population voted: the 1790 Census would count a total population of 3.0 million with a free population of 2.4 million and 600,000 slaves in those states making electoral votes.
^(c) States that did choose electors by popular vote had different restrictions on voting depending on rpoperty requirements.

Electoral vote

Presidential candidate	Party	Home state	Popular vote(a), (b), (c)		Electoral vote(d), (e), (f)
			Count	Percentage
George Washington	Independent	Virginia	43,782	100.00%	69
John Adams	Federalist	Massachusetts	—	—	34
John Jay	Federalist	New York	—	—	9
Robert H. Harrison	Federalist	Maryland	—	—	6
John Rutledge	Federalist	South Carolina	—	—	6
John Hancock	Federalist	Massachusetts	—	—	4
George Clinton	Anti-Federalist	New York	—	—	3
Samuel Huntington	Federalist	Connecticut	—	—	2
John Milton	Federalist	Georgia	—	—	2
James Armstrong(g)	Federalist	Georgia(g)	—	—	1
Benjamin Lincoln	Federalist	Massachusetts	—	—	1
Edward Telfair	Federalist	Georgia	—	—	1
Total			43,782	100.0%	138
Needed to win					35

Source: "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved July 30, 2005. Source (popular vote): A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825

^(a) Only 6 of the 10 states making electoral votes chose electors by any type of popular vote.
^(b) Less than 1.8% of the population voted: the 1790 Census would count a total population of 3.0 million with a free population of 2.4 million and 600,000 slaves in those states making electoral votes.
^(c) States that did choose electors by popular vote had different restrictions on suffrage depending property requirements.
^(d) Because the New York government elected electors too late, there were no voting electors from New York.
^(e) Two electors from Maryland didn't vote.
^(f) One elector from Virginia didn't vote and another elector from Virginia was not chosen because an election region failed to submit forms.
^(g) The identity of this person comes from The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections (Gordon DenBoer (ed.), University of Wisconsin Press, 1984, p. 441). Several respected sources, including the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress and the Political Graveyard, instead show this person to be James Armstrong of Pennsylvania. However, primary sources, such as the Senate Journal, list only Armstrong's name, not his state. People who question it say that Armstrong received his single vote from an elector from Georgia. They find this impossible because Armstrong was not nationally known, as his public service to that date made up of being a medical officer during the American Revolution and, at most, one year as a Pennsylvania judge.

Popular vote Washington   100% Others   0.0%

Electoral vote Washington   100% Adams   46.6% Jay   12.3% Harrison   8.2% Rutledge   8.2% Others   19.2% Not cast   5.5%

Results by state

Popular vote

The popular vote totals used are the elector from each party with the highest votes. The vote totals of Virginia are apparently incomplete.

		Federalist electors			Anti-Federalist electors			Margin		Not cast	Citation
State	Electoral votes	#	%	Electoral votes	#	%	Electoral votes	#	%
Connecticut	7	No popular vote		7	No popular vote		-	-		-	-
Delaware	3	522	100.00	3	No ballots		-	522	100.00	-
Georgia	5	No popular vote		5	No popular vote		-	-		-	-
Maryland	6 (8)	11,342	71.65	6	4,487	28.35	-	6,855	43.3	2
Massachusetts	10	3,748	96.60	10	132	3.40	-	3,616	93.20	-
New Hampshire	5	1,759	100.00	5	No ballots		-	1,759	100.00	-
New Jersey	6	No popular vote		6	No popular vote		-	-		-	-
New York	0 (8)	Legislature did not choose electors on time						-		-	-
North Carolina	0 (7)	Had not yet ratified Constitution						-		-	-
Pennsylvania	10	6,711	90.90	10	672	9.10	-	6,039	81.80	-
Rhode Island	0 (3)	Had not yet ratified Constitution						-		-	-
South Carolina	7	No popular vote		7	No popular vote		-	-		-	-
Virginia	10 (12)	668	100.00	10	No ballots		-	668	100.00	2
TOTALS:	69 (91)	24,750	82.39	69	5,291	17.61	0	19,459	64.78	4
TO WIN:	35 (46)

Electoral vote

Sixty-nine electors voted out of a possible 91: Two electors from Maryland and two from Virginia did not vote, the New York government was divided and the state's 8 electors were not appointed (see below), and North Carolina with 7 votes and Rhode Island with 3 votes hadn't recognized the Constitution. As the Constitution before 1804 says, each elector was allowed to make two votes for president, with a majority of "the whole number of electors appointed" (the total amount of voters) needed to elect a president. Out of the 69 electors, everyone voted for Washington who became president. Of the other candidates, only Adams, Jay, and Hancock received votes from more than one state. With 34 votes, Adams finished second behind just Washington, and because of that he was elected vice president.

State	Electors	Electoral votes	GW	JAd	JJ	RH	JR	JH	GC	SH	JM	JAr	BL	ET	Blank
Connecticut	7	14	7	5	—	—	—	—	—	2	—	—	—	—	—
Delaware	3	6	3	—	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Georgia	5	10	5	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2	1	1	1	—
Maryland	8	16	6	—	—	6	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	4
Massachusetts	10	20	10	10	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
New Hampshire	5	10	5	5	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
New Jersey	6	12	6	1	5	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
New York	8	16	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	16
Pennsylvania	10	20	10	8	—	—	—	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
South Carolina	7	14	7	—	—	—	6	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Virginia	12	24	10	5	1	—	—	1	3	—	—	—	—	—	4
TOTAL	81	162	69	34	9	6	6	4	3	2	2	1	1	1	24
TO WIN	37	37

Source: "The Electoral College Count for the Presidential Election of 1789". Washington Papers. University of Virginia. Retrieved 28 October 2022.

Failure of New York to elect electors

Control of the New York State Legislature (government) was divided after the creation of the Constitution, and lawmakers couldn't reach an agreement to appoint (elect) electors for the presidential contest. Federalists, backed by the great landed families and the city commercial interests, were the largest faction in the Senate, the smaller of the two groups. Roughly a quarter of the state's free white male population was allowed to vote, but in the House of Representatives, with its larger membership and voting power, Anti-federalists representing the middling interests held the majority. The fight to ratify the United States Constitution was still fresh in the memories of the lawmakers, and the Anti-Federalists were not happy as they had been forced by events to accept the constitution without changes. Bills to control the selection of electors were brought up in each house and rejected by the other, leading to a sticky situation. The situation continued on January 7, 1789, the last day for electors to be chosen by the states, causing New York to fail to appoint their eight electors.

Electoral college selection

The Constitution, in Article II, Section 1, said that the state governments should decide how their Electors were chosen. Governments chose different methods:

Method of choosing electors	State(s)
electors appointed by state legislature	Connecticut Georgia New Jersey New York(a) South Carolina
two electors appointed by state legislature each remaining elector chosen by state legislature from the two most popular candidates in each U.S. House district	Massachusetts
each elector chosen by voters statewide; however, if no candidate wins majority, state legislature appoints electors from top ten candidates	New Hampshire
state divided into electoral districts, with one elector chosen per district by the voters of that district	Virginia(b) Delaware
electors chosen at large by voters	Maryland Pennsylvania
state had not yet ratified the Constitution	North Carolina Rhode Island

^(a) New York's legislature did not choose electors on time.
^(b) One electoral district failed to choose an elector.

Related pages

• 1788–89 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1788–89 United States Senate elections
• History of the United States (1789–1849)

Bibliography

• Bowling, Kenneth R., and Donald R. Kennon. "A New Matrix for National Politics." Inventing Congress: Origins and Establishment of the First Federal Congress. Athens, O.: United States Capitol Historical Society by Ohio U, 1999. 110–37. Print.
• Chernow, Ron (2004). "Alexander Hamilton". London, UK: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-1101200858.
• Collier, Christopher. "Voting and American Democracy." The American People as Christian White Men of Property:Suffrage and Elections in Colonial and Early National America. N.p.: U of Connecticut, n.d, 1999.
• DenBoer, Gordon, ed. (1990). The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, 1788–1790. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-06690-1.
• Dinkin, Robert J. Voting in Revolutionary America: A Study of Elections in the Original Thirteen States, 1776–1789. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1982.
• Ellis, Richard J. (1999). Founding the American Presidency. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-8476-9499-0.
• McCullough, David (1990). John Adams. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4165-7588-7.
• Meacham, Jon (2012). Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power. Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6766-4.
• Novotny, Patrick. The Parties in American Politics, 1789–2016.
• Paullin, Charles O. "The First Elections Under The Constitution." The Iowa Journal of History and Politics 2 (1904): 3-33. Web. February 20, 2017.
• Shade, William G., and Ballard C. Campbell. "The Election of 1788-89." American Presidential Campaigns and Elections. Ed. Craig R. Coenen. Vol. 1. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference, 2003. 65–77. Print.

Other websites

• Presidential Election of 1789: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress
• A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns, 1787–1825 Archived 2022-01-20 at the Wayback Machine
• "A Historical Analysis of the Electoral College". The Green Papers. Retrieved February 17, 2005.
• Election of 1789 in Counting the Votes Archived May 25, 2016, at the Wayback Machine