Editing Thomas Jefferson (section)

==Election of 1796 and vice presidency==
{{main|Vice presidency of Thomas Jefferson}}
{{further|1796 United States presidential election|Democratic-Republican Party}}
[[File:ElectoralCollege1796.svg|thumb|alt=Electoral College map|The results of the [[1796 United States presidential election|1796 U.S. presidential election]] between Adams and Jefferson, won by Adams]]

In the [[1796 United States presidential election|presidential campaign of 1796]], Jefferson lost the electoral college vote to Federalist [[John Adams]] 71–68. He did, however, receive the second-highest number of votes and, under the electoral laws at the time, was elected as vice president. As presiding officer of the [[United States Senate]], Jefferson assumed a more passive role than his predecessor, John Adams. He allowed the Senate to freely conduct debates and confined his participation to procedural issues, which he called an "honorable and easy" role.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 305.</ref> Jefferson previously studied parliamentary law and procedure for 40 years, making him qualified to serve as presiding officer. In 1800, he published his assembled notes on Senate procedure as ''[[Jefferson's Manual|A Manual of Parliamentary Practice]]''.<ref>[[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], pp. 117–118.</ref> He cast only three [[List of tie-breaking votes cast by the vice president of the United States|tie-breaking votes]] in the Senate.

In four confidential talks with French consul Joseph Létombe in the spring of 1797, Jefferson attacked Adams, predicting that his rival would only serve one term. He also encouraged France to invade England, and advised Létombe to stall any American envoys sent to Paris.<ref>[[#Elkins1994|Elkins, 1994]], p. 566.</ref> This toughened the tone that the French government adopted toward the [[Presidency of John Adams|Adams administration]]. After Adams's initial peace envoys were rebuffed, Jefferson and his supporters lobbied for the release of papers related to the incident, called the [[XYZ Affair]] after the letters used to disguise the identities of the French officials involved.<ref>[[#Chernow04|Chernow, 2004]], p. 550.</ref> But the tactic backfired when it was revealed that French officials had demanded bribes, rallying public support against France. The U.S. began an undeclared naval war with France known as the [[Quasi-War]].<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 312.</ref>

During the Adams presidency, the Federalists rebuilt the military, levied new taxes, and enacted the [[Alien and Sedition Acts]]. Jefferson believed these laws were intended to suppress Democratic-Republicans, rather than prosecute enemy aliens, and considered them unconstitutional.<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p. 54.</ref> To rally opposition, he and James Madison anonymously wrote the [[Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions]], asserting that the federal government had no right to exercise powers not specifically delegated to it by the states.<ref>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], pp. 269–271.</ref> The resolutions followed the "[[interposition]]" approach of Madison, that states may shield their citizens from federal laws that they deem unconstitutional. Jefferson advocated [[Nullification (U.S. Constitution)|nullification]], allowing states to entirely invalidate federal laws.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 318.</ref>{{efn|Jefferson's Kentucky draft said: "where powers are assumed which have not been delegated, a nullification of the act is the rightful remedy: that every State has a natural right in cases not within the compact, (casus non fœderis) to nullify of their own authority all assumptions of power by others within their limits."<ref>[[#UCP|Thomas Jefferson, Resolutions Relative to the Alien and Sedition Acts, 1798]]</ref>}} He warned that, "unless arrested at the threshold", the Alien and Sedition Acts would "drive these states into revolution and blood".<ref>[[#Onuf2000|Onuf, 2000]], p. 73.</ref>

Biographer [[Ron Chernow]] contends that "the theoretical damage of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions was deep and lasting, and was a recipe for disunion", and contributed to the outbreak of the [[American Civil War]] and later events.<ref>[[#Chernow04|Chernow, 2004]], p. 574.</ref> Washington was so appalled by the resolutions that he told [[Patrick Henry]] that, if "systematically and pertinaciously pursued", the resolutions would "dissolve the union or produce coercion."<ref name="Chernow587">[[#Chernow04|Chernow, 2004]], p. 587.</ref> Jefferson had always admired Washington's leadership skills but felt that his Federalist party was leading the country in the wrong direction. He decided not to attend Washington's funeral in 1799 because of acute differences with him while serving as secretary of state.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], p. 323.</ref>

===Election of 1800===
{{Main|1800 United States presidential election}}
[[File:ElectoralCollege1800.svg|thumb|alt=Electoral College map|The results of the [[1800 United States presidential election|1800 presidential election]] between [[John Adams|Adams]] and Jefferson, which Jefferson won, making him the nation's third [[President of the United States|president]]]]

Jefferson ran for president against [[John Adams]] again in [[1800 United States presidential election|1800]]. Adams' campaign was weakened by unpopular taxes and vicious Federalist infighting over his actions in the Quasi-War.<ref>[[#McCullough|McCullough, 2001]], p. 556; [[#Bernstein03|Bernstein, 2003]], pp. 126–128.</ref> Democratic-Republicans pointed to the Alien and Sedition Acts and accused the Federalists of being secret pro-Britain monarchists. Federalists, in turn, charged that Jefferson was a godless libertine beholden to the French.<ref>[[#McCullough|McCullough, 2001]], pp. 543–544.</ref> [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]] history professor [[Joyce Appleby]] described the 1800 presidential election as "one of the most acrimonious in the annals of American history".<ref>[[#Appleby|Appleby, 2003]], pp. 27–28.</ref>

The Democratic-Republicans ultimately won more electoral college votes, due in part to the electors that resulted from the addition of three-fifths of the South's slaves to the population calculation under the [[Three-Fifths Compromise]].<ref>[https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n10/eric-foner/the-corrupt-bargain The Corrupt Bargain], Eric Foner, The London Review of Books, Vol. 42 No. 10, May 21, 2020, accessed November 3, 2020</ref> Jefferson and his vice presidential candidate [[Aaron Burr]] unexpectedly received an equal total. Because of the tie, the election was decided by the Federalist-dominated [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]].<ref>[[#Tucker37|Tucker, 1837]], v. 2, p. 75; [[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], p. 278.</ref>{{efn|This electoral process problem was addressed by the [[Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] in 1804, which provided separate votes for presidential and vice-presidential candidates.<ref name=W284/>}} Hamilton lobbied Federalist representatives on Jefferson's behalf, believing him a lesser political evil than Burr. On February 17, 1801, after thirty-six ballots, the House elected Jefferson president and Burr vice president.<ref name=W284/>

The win led to Democratic-Republican celebrations throughout the country.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 340–341.</ref> Some of Jefferson's opponents argued that he owed his victory to the South's inflated number of electors.<ref>[[#Ferling04|Ferling, 2004]], p. 208.</ref> Others alleged that Jefferson secured [[James A. Bayard (elder)|James Asheton Bayard]]'s tie-breaking electoral vote by promising to retain various Federalist posts in the government.<ref name=W284>[[#Wood2010|Wood, 2010]], pp. 284–285.</ref> Jefferson disputed the allegation, and the historical record is inconclusive.<ref>[[#Meacham|Meacham, 2012]], pp. 337–338.</ref>

The transition proceeded smoothly, marking a watershed in American history. Historian [[Gordon S. Wood]] writes that, "it was one of the first popular elections in modern history that resulted in the [[peaceful transition of power|peaceful transfer of power]] from one 'party' to another."<ref name=W284/>