The election of George Washington was weirder than you think

The first U.S. presidential election in 1789 had none of the features Americans associate with elections today: no campaigning for the office, no political parties or conventions, no primary elections. Election Day was in January rather than November. The Electoral College was taken seriously rather than being treated as a formality. This was the only election in which a state was disqualified from participating. And there was only one issue at stake: whether the Constitution itself should be scrapped.

The final results of the election were that George Washington received 69 electoral votes and John Adams 34, making them president and vice president, respectively. John Adams should have received at least 49 votes, but many of the electors who wanted to vote for him voted for other people instead because of a scheme that Alexander Hamilton helped create. So instead of Adams receiving 71% of the electoral vote as he would have, he only received 49%.

0:00 Introduction
0:35 Why 1789? Why not 1776?
2:59 The procedure for electing the president
6:41 How the states chose their electors
8:54 The major election issue
9:58 The New York debacle
12:04 What the anti-federalists wanted
16:46 The plot to prevent Adams from accidentally becoming president
17:31 Electoral College results
20:10 Conclusion

FOOTNOTES

DHFFE = The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, 4 vols. (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1976–89)

[1] Gordon S. Wood, The Creation of the American Republic, 1776–1787 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1969), pages 128–132
Jere R. Daniell, Experiment in Republicanism: New Hampshire Politics and the American Revolution, 1741–1794 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1970), page 210

[2] Neal R. Peirce, The People’s President: The Electoral College in American History and the Direct-Vote Alternative (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1968), pages 39–48
Lawrence D. Longley, The Electoral College Primer 2000 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), pages 18–19

[3] New Hampshire: The New Hampshire Election Law, 12 November 1788, DHFFE 1:790
Massachusetts: The Massachusetts Election Resolutions, 20 November 1788, DHFFE 1:510

[4] Gordon S. Wood, The Creation of the American Republic, chapter 13
Jere R. Daniell, Experiment in Republicanism, pages 210–214
Gordon S. Wood, Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011), pages 15, 35
The image shown here is the mural “The Anti-Ratification Riot in Albany, 1788” created in 1935 by David Cunningham Lithgow, located in Milne Hall at the University at Albany.

[5] Alexander Hamilton to James Madison, 23 November 1788, DHFFE 4:95
William Tilghman to Tench Coxe, 2 January 1789, DHFFE 4:125
Alexander Hamilton to James Wilson, 25 January 1789, DHFFE 4:148

[6] James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, 8 December 1788, DHFFE 4:109
Edward Carrington to James Madison, 19 December 1788, DHFFE 4:115
Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia), 31 December 1788, DHFFE 4:122
A Marylander, Maryland Gazette (Baltimore), 2 January 1789, DHFFE 4:126
Marcus Cunliffe, “Elections of 1789 and 1792” in History of American Presidential Elections, 1789–2001, vol. 1, edited by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2002), page 15

[7] Tench Coxe to Benjamin Rush, 13 January 1789, DHFFE 4:140
Alexander Hamilton to James Wilson, 25 January 1789, DHFFE 4:148
Wallace & Muir to Tench Coxe, 25 January 1789, DHFFE 4:149-150
Tench Coxe to Benjamin Rush, 2 February 1789, DHFFE 4:160
Marcus Cunliffe, “Elections of 1789 and 1792” in History of American Presidential Elections, 1789–2001, vol. 1, pages 13–15
John Ferling, John Adams: A Life (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1992), pages 298–299
Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton (New York: Penguin, 2004), page 272

[8] William Stephens Smith to Thomas Jefferson, 15 February 1789, DHFFE 4:178
John Trumbull to John Adams, 17 April 1790, DHFFE 4:290

[9] Benjamin Rush to Tench Coxe, 19 January 1789, DHFFE 4:144
Benjamin Rush to Tench Coxe, 5 February 1789, DHFFE 1:401
[William Bradford, Jr., to Elias Boudinot], 7 February 1789, DHFFE 4:168
Federal Gazette (Philadelphia), 9 February 1789, DHFFE 4:172

[10] William Tilghman to Tench Coxe, 25 January 1789, DHFFE 4:149
William Tilghman to Tench Coxe, 9 February 1789, DHFFE 4:172
Benjamin Rush to Tench Coxe, 11 February 1789, DHFFE 4:173
Elbridge Gerry to John Adams, 4 March 1789, DHFFE 4:190

[11] Georgia's throwaway votes:
James Seagrove to [Samuel Blachley Webb], 2 January 1789, DHFFE 2:438
James Madison to George Washington, 5 March 1789, DHFFE 2:478

[12] John Adams to John Trumbull, 7 April 1790, DHFFE 4:290–291
John Adams to John Trumbull, 25 April 1790, DHFFE 4:291–292
John Adams to Mercy Otis Warren, 20 July 1807, DHFFE 4:292–293
John Ferling, John Adams: A Life, page 299
John Patrick Diggins, John Adams (New York: Times Books, 2003), page 42
Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton, pages 272–273

[iammrbeat]

I'm so happy the algorithm recommended this to me. My video about this election is not nearly this good.

[CMoore-Gaming]

I think it is a bit ironic that even an election with "no political parties" had two dominate factions strategizing amongst themselves.

[pfcspencerb]

Weve been fighting the same rural vs. urban, local vs. federal government arguments since our country's inception.

[MarkHalberstram]

This video is a testament to the fact that interesting history clearly and competently told is more than enough to hold an audience’s attention. No jokes, gimmicks or jump cuts, just concise storytelling. I love it.

[raulmckool]

Hi, there, Non-American here. The history of the American Revolution and the formation of the United States as a unified country will never cease to fascinate me. I come from a country that has had two dozen constitutions since its inception in 1811. I can't even begin to imagine the level of wisdom, legislative knowledge, and ethical standards the Framers must have had to come up with *a single constitution and a whole government system* from scratch and both still hold up today. It just blows my mind. Thank you so much for this video. I don't remember ever seeing a clearer explanation of the separation of powers and the election system.

[crazylegz]

Anybody can learn history but not everyone can lecture like this guy

[slouch]

Glad to know that politics was just as conniving, strategic, and "messy" back then as it is today. I sort of figured it had to have been, but rarely have I heard anyone go into the details like this.

[Baltimore.C.McGash]

This is perhaps the finest video I have seen describing the "birthing pains" of the American electoral college. Aside from being amazingly concise and informative, this dude has an excellent radio voice.

[hatman]

The way he seems legitimately devastated for John Adams not getting as many votes as he thought he would 😂

[nakenmil]

It's kind of funny how in the first election they IMMEDIATELY starting gaming the rules, lol.

[CHIOTIS]

Way easier to pay attention to a lecture when the speaker isn't reading off a script, but actually knows his shit. Well done

[Thenato]

Excellent presentation and an aid to my studies on American history . Thank You .

[JMSouchak]

I seriously love how often you mention that people today take all these events for granted.

[owenwillard]

i really did not expect to watch the whole video, but the way you tell this story is so enticing. it’s not flashy or too exciting, but it really holds on to your attention and is concise and well comunicated.

[salsa]

So glad I discovered this no nonsense channel. You are very informative sir!

[amandajones]

We have an insane system, but the amount of forethought that the founding fathers put into the plan, without knowing what the future looked like, is admirable.

[StephenGillie]

6:30 Thank you for putting Longtudinal History events onto your timeline. Seeing worldwide historical events really puts history into context and makes it so much more vivid.

[tomblaise]

As an American and History enthusiast I was surprised by how little I knew about this time period. Thank you for the very informative and enjoyable video.

[johandjerf]

Man I just gotta say you make the highest quality historical content on YouTube I've seen so far. Never stop!

[versebuchanan]

"Those east coast elites are gonna ruin this country for us rural farmers, " said American voters since literally the dawn of America.