Editing 1792 United States presidential election

{{Short description|none}}
{{use mdy dates|date=November 2013}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}{{for|related races|1792 United States elections}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1792 United States presidential election
| country = United States
| flag_year = 1777
| type = presidential
| ongoing = no
| previous_election = 1788–89 United States presidential election
| previous_year = {{nowrap|1788–89}}
| next_election = 1796 United States presidential election
| next_year = 1796
| votes_for_election = 132 members of the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]]
| turnout = 6.3%<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.electproject.org/national-1789-present|title=National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present|work=United States Election Project|publisher=[[CQ Press]]}}</ref> {{decrease}} 5.3 [[percentage point|pp]]
| needed_votes = 67 electoral
| election_date = November 2 – December 5, 1792
| image_size = x200px
| image1 = File:George Washington Portrait (3x4 cropped).jpg
| nominee1 = '''[[George Washington]]'''
 
| party1 = Independent politician
| home_state1 = [[Virginia]]
| electoral_vote1 = '''132'''
| states_carried1 = '''15'''
| popular_vote1 = '''11,176'''

| image2 =
| nominee2 =
| party2 =
| home_state2 =
| electoral_vote2 =
| states_carried2 = 
| popular_vote2 =
| percentage2 = - 
| percentage1 = '''100.0%'''
| map = {{1792 United States presidential election imagemap}}
| map_size = 350px
| map_caption = Presidential election results map. <span style="color:#5fd35f;">Green</span> denotes states won by Washington. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes cast by each state.
| title = President
| before_election = [[George Washington]]
| before_party = Independent (United States)
| after_election = [[George Washington]]
| after_party = Independent (United States)
| running_mate1 =
}}
[[United States presidential election|Presidential elections]] were held in the [[United States]] from November 2 to December 5, 1792. Incumbent [[President of the United States|President]] [[George Washington]] was elected to a second term by a unanimous vote in the [[Electoral College (United States)|electoral college]], while [[John Adams]] was reelected as [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]]. Washington was essentially unopposed, but Adams faced a competitive re-election against [[Governor of New York|Governor]] [[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]] of [[New York (state)|New York]].

Electoral rules of the time required each presidential elector to cast two votes without distinguishing which was for president and which for [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]]. The recipient of the most votes would then become president, and the runner-up vice president. The [[Democratic-Republican Party (United States)|Democratic-Republican Party]], which had organized in opposition to the policies of Secretary of the Treasury [[Alexander Hamilton]], supported Clinton for the position of vice president. Adams, meanwhile, was backed by the [[Federalist Party]] in his bid for another term. Neither party had fully organized, and partisan divisions had not yet solidified.

Washington received 132 electoral votes, one from each elector. Adams won 77 electoral votes, enough to win re-election. Clinton finished in third place with 50 electoral votes, taking his home state of New York as well as three [[Southern United States|Southern]] states. Two other candidates won the five remaining electoral votes. This election was the first in which each of the original 13 states appointed electors, as did the newly added states of [[Kentucky]] and [[Vermont]].

==Candidates==
In 1792, presidential elections were still conducted according to the original method established under the U.S. Constitution. Under this system, each elector cast two votes: the candidate who received the greatest number of votes (so long as they won a [[majority]]) became president, while the runner-up became vice president. The [[Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twelfth Amendment]] would eventually replace this system, requiring electors to cast one vote for president and one vote for vice president, but this change did not take effect until [[1804 United States presidential election|1804]]. Because of this, it is difficult to use modern-day terminology to describe the relationship among the candidates in this election.

Washington is generally held by historians to have run unopposed. Indeed, the incumbent president enjoyed bipartisan support and received one vote from every elector. The choice for vice president was more divisive. The [[Federalist Party]] threw its support behind the incumbent vice president, John Adams of Massachusetts, while the [[Democratic-Republican Party]] backed the candidacy of [[Governor of New York|New York Governor]] George Clinton. Because few doubted that Washington would receive the greatest number of votes, Adams and Clinton were effectively competing for the vice presidency; under the letter of the law, however, they were technically candidates for president competing against Washington.

===Federalist nomination===
* [[George Washington]], [[President of the United States]] (1789–1797)
* [[John Adams]], [[Vice President of the United States]] (1789–1797)

<gallery mode="packed" heights="160">
File:Jadams.jpeg|[[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]]<br>'''[[John Adams]]'''<br>from [[Massachusetts]]
File:Gilbert Stuart Williamstown Portrait of George Washington.jpg|[[President of the United States|President]]<br>'''[[George Washington]]'''<br>from [[Virginia]]
</gallery>

===Democratic-Republican nomination===
* [[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]], Governor of [[New York (state)|New York]] (1777–1795, 1801–1804)
* [[George Washington]], [[President of the United States]] (1789–1797)

Born out of the Anti-Federalist faction that had opposed the Constitution in 1788, the Democratic-Republican Party was the main opposition to the agenda of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. They had no chance of unseating Washington, but hoped to win the vice presidency by defeating the incumbent, Adams. Many Democratic-Republicans would have preferred to nominate Thomas Jefferson, their ideological leader and Washington's Secretary of State. However, this would have cost them the state of Virginia, as electors were not permitted to vote for two candidates from their home state and Washington was also a Virginian. Clinton, the Governor of New York and a former [[Anti-Federalism|anti-Federalist]] leader, became the party's nominee after he won the backing of Jefferson and [[James Madison]]. Clinton was from an electorally important swing state, and he convinced party leaders that he would be a stronger candidate than another New Yorker, Senator [[Aaron Burr]].<ref name="sharp1">{{cite book|last1=Sharp|first1=James Roger|title=American Politics in the Early Republic: The New Nation in Crisis|url=https://archive.org/details/americanpolitics0000shar|url-access=registration|date=1993|publisher=Yale University Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/americanpolitics0000shar/page/57 57-58]|isbn=9780300055306 }}</ref> A group of Democratic-Republican leaders met in [[Philadelphia]] in October 1792 and selected Clinton as the party's vice presidential candidate.<ref name="patrick1">{{cite book|last1=Patrick|first1=John J.|last2=Pious|first2=Richard M.|last3=Ritchie|first3=Donald A.|title=The Oxford Guide to the United States Government|url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordguidetouni00john|url-access=registration|date=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordguidetouni00john/page/93 93]|isbn=978-0-19-514273-0 }}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="160">
File:George Clinton by Ezra Ames.jpg|[[Governor of New York|Governor]]<br>'''[[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]]'''<br>of [[New York (state)|New York]]
File:Gilbert Stuart Williamstown Portrait of George Washington.jpg|[[President of the United States|President]]<br>'''[[George Washington]]'''<br>from [[Virginia]]
</gallery>

==Campaign==
By 1792, a party division had emerged between [[United States Federalist Party|Federalists]] led by [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Treasury Secretary]] [[Alexander Hamilton]], who desired a stronger federal government with a leading role in the economy, and the [[Democratic-Republican Party (United States)|Democratic-Republicans]] led by [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] Thomas Jefferson and Representative James Madison of Virginia, who favored states' rights and opposed [[Hamiltonian economic program|Hamilton's economic program]]. Madison was at first a Federalist until he opposed the establishment of Hamilton's [[First Bank of the United States]] in 1791. He formed the Democratic-Republican Party along with [[Anti-Federalist]] Thomas Jefferson in 1792.

The elections of 1792 were the first ones in the United States to be contested on anything resembling a partisan basis. In most states, the congressional elections were recognized in some sense as a "struggle between the Treasury department and the republican interest," to use the words of Jefferson strategist [[John Beckley]]. In New York, the race for governor was fought along these lines. The candidates were [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] [[John Jay]], a Hamiltonian, and incumbent George Clinton, the party's vice presidential nominee.

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 passage of the [[US Bill of Rights|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. Federalists attacked Clinton for his past association with the anti-Federalists.<ref name="sharp1"/> Adams easily secured re-election.

==Results==
Washington was re-elected unanimously, receiving one vote from each of the 132 participating electors. Adams received votes from 77 electors and Clinton 50; the four electors from Kentucky voted for Thomas Jefferson, and one South Carolina elector voted for Aaron Burr. The distribution of the electoral vote between the four runners-up showed a high degree of party discipline, with only two electors voting contrary to the majority in their state. Adams received the support of New England, South Carolina, and the Mid-Atlantic states (excepting New York), while Clinton carried New York and most of the South. Adams as the second-place finisher was elected vice president, serving until his election to the presidency in 1797; each of his three rivals would go on to serve as vice president in turn, Jefferson from 1797 to 1801 (when he alike succeeded to the presidency), Burr from 1801 to 1805, and Clinton from 1805 until his death in 1812.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lampi |first1=Phil |title=1792 President of the United States, Electoral College |url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/cc08hf97m |website=A New Nation Votes |publisher=Tufts University |access-date=November 15, 2022}}</ref>

Nine of the 15 states eligible to choose representatives to the electoral college did so by a vote of the state legislature; the remaining six employed some form of popular vote. Of these, complete returns from Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania survive; surviving returns from Virginia are incomplete, and popular vote records from Kentucky are not known to exist. Of the states with complete returns, only Pennsylvania saw real partisan competition; a Federalist electoral slate pledged to Washington and Adams was selected, although one elector voted for Washington and Clinton. At the time, party organizations were still in their infancy, and the partisan allegiance of the candidates was not always evident: it is therefore difficult to say whether the Pennsylvania vote for Clinton was an instance of a faithless elector, or an elector voting as pledged.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lampi |first1=Philip |title=Electoral College |url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?commit=Limit&f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&per_page=100&search_field=dummy_range&utf8=✓ |website=A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825 |publisher=Tufts University |access-date=November 15, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rosin |first1=Michael L. |title=A History of Elector Discretion |journal=Northern Illinois University Law Review |date=2020 |volume=41 |issue=1 |page=142}}</ref>

===Electoral vote===
{{start U.S. presidential election box|pv_footnote=<sup>(a)</sup>|ev_footnote=<sup>(b)</sup>}}
{{U.S. presidential election box row|name=[[George Washington]] (incumbent)|party=[[Independent politician|Independent]]|state=[[Virginia]]|pv=11,176|pv_pct=100.0%|ev=132}}
{{U.S. presidential election box row|name=[[John Adams]]|party=[[Federalist Party|Federalist]]|state=[[Massachusetts]]|pv=—|pv_pct=—|ev=77}}
{{U.S. presidential election box row|name=[[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]]|party=[[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]]|state=[[New York (state)|New York]]|pv=—|pv_pct=—|ev=50}}
{{U.S. presidential election box row|name=[[Thomas Jefferson]]|party=[[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]]|state=[[Virginia]]|pv=—|pv_pct=—|ev=4}}
{{U.S. presidential election box row|name=[[Aaron Burr]]|party=[[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]]|state=[[New York (state)|New York]]|pv=—|pv_pct=—|ev=1}}
{{end U.S. presidential election box|pv=11,176|ev=264|to_win=67}}

<sup>(a)</sup> ''Only 6 of the 15 states chose electors by any form of popular vote, while pre-Twelfth Amendment electoral vote rules obscure the intentions of the voters, and those states that did choose electors by popular vote restricted the vote via property requirements.''<br>
<sup>(b)</sup> ''Two electors from [[Maryland]] and one elector from [[Vermont]] did not cast votes.''

===Popular vote===
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:right
! rowspan=2 | Slate
! colspan=2 | Popular Vote<sup>(a), (b), (c), (d)</sup>
|-
! Count
! Percentage
|-
| align=left | '''[[Federalist Party|Federalist]]'''
| 6,818
| 87.6%
|-
| align=left | '''[[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]]'''
| 962
| 12.4%
|-
| '''Total'''
| 7,780
| 100.0%
|}

'''Source (Popular Vote):''' ''A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825''<ref>[http://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog?commit=Limit&f%5Belection_type_sim%5D%5B%5D=General&f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&page=2&q=1820&range%5Bdate_sim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=1820&range%5Bdate_sim%5D%5Bend%5D=1820&search_field=all_fields&utf8=%E2%9C%93 elections.lib.tufts.edu]</ref>

<sup>(a)</sup> ''Only 6 of the 15 states chose electors by any form of popular vote.''<br>
<sup>(b)</sup> ''Pre-Twelfth Amendment electoral vote rules obscure the intentions of the voters''<br>
<sup>(c)</sup> ''Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements.''<br>
<sup>(d)</sup> ''Returns for several states are incomplete.''

=== Popular vote by state ===
Elections in this period were vastly different from modern day presidential elections. The actual presidential candidates were rarely mentioned on tickets and voters were voting for particular electors who were pledged to a particular candidate. There was sometimes confusion as to who the particular elector was actually pledged to. Results are reported as the highest result for an elector for any given faction. For example, if three Federalist electors received 100, 50, and 25 votes, Federalist electors would be recorded as having 100 votes. Confusion surrounding the way results are reported may lead to discrepancies between the sum of all state results and national results.

In Massachusetts, the best performing elector candidate for the Eastern District, [[Thomas Rice (Massachusetts politician, born 1768)|Thomas Rice]], was not selected by the [[Massachusetts General Court]] to be an elector.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A New Nation Votes |url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/x059c858n |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=elections.lib.tufts.edu}}</ref> Rice was a Federalist<ref>{{Cite web |title=RICE, Thomas 1768 – 1854 |url=https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/R000204 |website=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress}}</ref> and his returns have been included into the state total below instead of the second best performing elector candidate.

The totals for Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Virginia appear to be incomplete. In several states candidates of unknown affiliation received votes.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
|-
! colspan="2" |
! colspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | George Washington<br>Federalist
! colspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | George Washington<br>Democratic-Republican
! colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | Margin
! Not cast
! Citation
|-
! align="center" | State
! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" | Electoral<br>votes
! align="center" | #
! align="center" | %
! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" | Electoral<br>votes
! align="center" | #
! align="center" | %
! style="text-align:center; font-size: 60%" | Electoral<br>votes
! align="center" | #
! align="center" | %
!
!
|-
! [[1792 United States presidential election in Connecticut|Connecticut]]
! 9
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No popular vote''
| 9
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No popular vote''
| -
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | -
| -
| -
|-
! [[1792 United States presidential election in Delaware|Delaware]]
! 3
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No popular vote''
| 3
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No popular vote''
| -
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | -
| -
| -
|-
! Georgia
! 4
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No popular vote''
| 4
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No popular vote''
| -
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | -
| -
| -
|-
! Kentucky
! 4
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No data''
| -
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No data''
| 4
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | -
| -
|
|-
! [[1792 United States presidential election in Maryland|Maryland]]
! 8 (10)
| 898
| 100.00
| 8
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No data''
| -
| 898
| 100.00
| 2
|<ref name=Dubin>{{Cite book |last=Dubin |first=Michael J. |title=United States Presidential Elections, 1788-1860: The Official Results by County and State |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2002 |isbn=9780786410170 |location=Jefferson}}</ref>{{rp|4}}
|-
! [[1792 United States presidential election in Massachusetts|Massachusetts]]
! 16
| 4,138
| 100.00
| 16
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No ballots''
| -
| 4,138
| 100.00
| -
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=A New Nation Votes |url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&f%5Bstate_name_sim%5D%5B%5D=Massachusetts&search_field=dummy_range&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=1792&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bend%5D=1792&commit=Apply |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=elections.lib.tufts.edu}}</ref>
|-
! New Hampshire
! 6
| 1,782
| 100.00
| 6
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No ballots''
| -
| 1,782
| 100.00
| -
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=A New Nation Votes |url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/x920fz28g |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=elections.lib.tufts.edu}}</ref>
|-
! [[1792 United States presidential election in New Jersey|New Jersey]]
! 7
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No popular vote''
| 7
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No popular vote''
| -
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | -
| -
| -
|-
! [[1792 United States presidential election in New York|New York]]
! 12
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No popular vote''
| -
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No popular vote''
| 12
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | -
| -
| -
|-
! [[1792 United States presidential election in North Carolina|North Carolina]]
! 12
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No popular vote''
| -
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No popular vote''
| 12
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | -
| -
| -
|-
! [[1792 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]]
! 15
| colspan="6" align="center" |'''''The two best performing electors were supported by both groups'''''{{efn|name=pa|The two best performing electors in Pennsylvania, [[Joseph Hiester]] and [[William Henry (gunsmith)|William Henry]], were supported by both groups. They received 3,396 and 3,371 votes respectively. It is not known which one voted for Clinton. The total for Washington only includes the 3,396 number as to not represent Pennsylvanian voters twice in popular vote figures.}}
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | -
| -
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=A New Nation Votes |url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/5425k9909 |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=elections.lib.tufts.edu}}</ref>
|-
! Rhode Island
! 4
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No popular vote''
| 4
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No popular vote''
| -
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | -
| -
| -
|-
! [[1792 United States presidential election in South Carolina|South Carolina]]
! 8
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No popular vote''
| 7
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No popular vote''
| 1
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | -
| -
| -
|-
! [[1792 United States presidential election in Vermont|Vermont]]
! 3 (4)
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No popular vote''
| 3
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No popular vote''
| -
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | -
| 1
| -
|-
! [[1792 United States presidential election in Virginia|Virginia]]
! 21
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ''No data''
| -
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | 962
| 21
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | -
| -
|<ref>{{Cite web |title=A New Nation Votes |url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&f%5Bstate_name_sim%5D%5B%5D=Virginia&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=1792&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bend%5D=1792&search_field=dummy_range |access-date=2024-07-12 |website=elections.lib.tufts.edu}}</ref>
|-
! TOTALS:
! 135
! 6,818
! 96.16
! 67
! 962
! 3.84
! 50
! 26,385
! 92.32 
! 3
!
|-
! TO WIN:
! 68
! colspan="12" |
|}

===Electoral votes by state===
The states chose 135 electors, out of whom 132 cast ballots. (Two electors from Maryland and one from Vermont were absent and did not vote.) As per the terms of the unamended constitution, each elector was permitted two votes for president, with a majority of "the whole number of electors appointed" necessary to elect a president. Each of the participating electors cast one vote for Washington, who was elected president. The electors were split on their second choice: Adams received 77 votes to Clinton's 50, enough to secure a second-place finish behind Washington and the vice presidency.

{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
|-
! State
! style="font-size: 60%"| Electors
! style="font-size: 60%"| Electoral<br />votes
! {{abbrlink|GW|George Washington}}
! {{abbrlink|JA|John Adams}}
! {{abbrlink|GC|George Clinton (vice president)}}
! {{abbrlink|TJ|Thomas Jefferson}}
! {{abbrlink|AB|Aaron Burr}}
! Blank
|- {{party shading/Federalist}}
! [[1792 United States presidential election in Connecticut|Connecticut]]
! 9
! 18
| 9
| 9
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- {{party shading/Federalist}}
! [[1792 United States presidential election in Delaware|Delaware]]
! 3
! 6
| 3
| 3
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- {{party shading/Democratic-Republican}}
! [[1792 United States presidential election in Georgia|Georgia]]
! 4
! 8
| 4
| —
| 4
| —
| —
| —
|- {{party shading/Democratic-Republican}}
! [[1792 United States presidential election in Kentucky|Kentucky]]
! 4
! 8
| 4
| —
| —
| 4
| —
| —
|- {{party shading/Federalist}}
! [[1792 United States presidential election in Maryland|Maryland]]
! 10
! 20
| 8
| 8
| —
| —
| —
| 4
|- {{party shading/Federalist}}
! [[1792 United States presidential election in Massachusetts|Massachusetts]]
! 16
! 32
| 16
| 16
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- {{party shading/Federalist}}
! [[1792 United States presidential election in New Hampshire|New Hampshire]]
! 6
! 12
| 6
| 6
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- {{party shading/Federalist}}
! [[1792 United States presidential election in New Jersey|New Jersey]]
! 7
! 14
| 7
| 7
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- {{party shading/Democratic-Republican}}
! [[1792 United States presidential election in New York|New York]]
! 12
! 24
| 12
| —
| 12
| —
| —
| —
|- {{party shading/Democratic-Republican}}
! [[1792 United States presidential election in North Carolina|North Carolina]]
! 12
! 24
| 12
| —
| 12
| —
| —
| —
|- {{party shading/Federalist}}
! [[1792 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]]
! 15
! 30
| 15
| 14
| 1
| —
| —
| —
|- {{party shading/Federalist}}
! [[1792 United States presidential election in Rhode Island|Rhode Island]]
! 4
! 8
| 4
| 4
| —
| —
| —
| —
|- {{party shading/Federalist}}
! [[1792 United States presidential election in South Carolina|South Carolina]]
! 8
! 16
| 8
| 7
| —
| —
| 1
| —
|- {{party shading/Federalist}}
! [[1792 United States presidential election in Vermont|Vermont]]
! 4
! 8
| 3
| 3
| —
| —
| —
| 2
|- {{party shading/Democratic-Republican}}
! [[1792 United States presidential election in Virginia|Virginia]]
! 21
! 42
| 21
| —
| 21
| —
| —
| —
|-
! TOTAL
! 135
! 270
! 132
! 77
! 50
! 4
! 1
! 6
|-
! TO WIN
! 67
! 67
!colspan=6|
|}
'''Source:''' ''A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825''<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lampi |first1=Phil |title=1792 President of the United States, Electoral College |url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/cc08hf97m |website=A New Nation Votes |publisher=Tufts University |access-date=November 15, 2022}}</ref>

{{bar box
|title=Popular vote
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=600px
|barwidth=410px
|bars=
{{bar percent|'''Washington'''|{{party color|Independent (US)}}|100.0}}
{{bar percent|Others|#777777|0.0}}
}}
{{bar box
|title=Electoral vote
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=600px
|barwidth=410px
|bars=
{{bar percent|'''Washington'''|{{party color|Independent (US)}}|97.8}}
{{bar percent|Adams|{{party color|Federalist Party}}|57.0}}
{{bar percent|Clinton|{{party color|Democratic-Republican Party}}|37.0}}
{{bar percent|Jefferson|{{party color|Democratic-Republican Party}}|3.0}}
{{bar percent|Burr|{{party color|Democratic-Republican Party}}|0.7}}
{{bar percent|Not cast|{{party color|Other}}|2.2}}
}}

=== Maps ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:1792 United States presidential election by county.svg|Map of presidential election results by county, shaded according to the vote share of the highest result for an elector of any given party
File:1792 United States presidential election by electoral district.svg|Map of presidential election results by electoral district, shaded according to the vote share of the highest result for an elector of any given party. Electoral boundaries  for Kentucky, North Carolina, and data for Massachusetts could not be found
</gallery>
==Electoral college selection==
The Constitution, in [[Article Two of the United States Constitution#Section 1, Clause 2|Article II, Section 1]], provided that the state legislatures should decide the manner in which their Electors were chosen.  Different state legislatures chose different methods:<ref>{{cite web|title=The Electoral Count for the Presidential Election of 1789 |work=The Papers of George Washington |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914141726/http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/presidential/electoral.html|archive-date=14 September 2013|url=http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/presidential/electoral.html |access-date=May 4, 2005}}</ref>

{{start electoral college selection}}
{{electoral college selection row|method=state is divided into electoral districts, with one elector chosen per district by the voters of that district|states=[[Kentucky]]<br>[[Virginia]]}}
{{electoral college selection row|method=each elector chosen by voters statewide|states=[[Maryland]]<br>[[Pennsylvania]]}}
{{electoral college selection row|method={{bulleted list|two congressional districts chose five electors each; the remaining two districts chose three electors|each elector chosen by majority vote of voters in congressional district|if an insufficient number of electors are chosen by majority vote from a congressional district, remaining electors would be appointed by the state legislature}}|states=[[Massachusetts]]}}
{{electoral college selection row|method={{bulleted list|each elector chosen by majority vote of voters statewide|if an insufficient number of electors are chosen by majority vote, runoff is held between the top 2''n'' vote-getters, where ''n'' is the number of vacancies remaining}}|states=[[New Hampshire]]}}
{{electoral college selection row|method=each elector appointed by the state legislature|states=[[Connecticut]]<br>[[Delaware]]<br>[[Georgia (US State)|Georgia]]<br>[[New Jersey]]<br>[[New York (state)|New York]]<br>[[North Carolina]]<br>[[Rhode Island]]<br>[[South Carolina]]<br>[[Vermont]]}}
{{end electoral college selection}}

==See also==
* [[First Party System]]
* [[History of the United States (1789–1849)]]
* [[Presidency of George Washington]]
* [[1792–93 United States House of Representatives elections]]
* [[1792–93 United States Senate elections]]
* [[List of 1792 United States presidential electors]]
* [[List of George Washington articles]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite web |last=Berg-Andersson |first=Richard | date=September 17, 2000 |title=A Historical Analysis of the Electoral College |work=The Green Papers |url=http://www.thegreenpapers.com/Hx/ElectoralCollege.html |access-date=March 20, 2005}}
* {{cite book |first=Stanley |last=Elkins |author2=McKitrick, Eric |author-link1= Stanley Elkins |author-link2=Eric McKitrick |title=The Age of Federalism |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1995}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070512222830/http://dca.tufts.edu/features/aas/index.html A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns, 1787-1825]

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* [https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/elections/election1792.html Presidential Election of 1792: A Resource Guide] from the Library of Congress
* [http://www.countingthevotes.com/1792/ Election of 1792 in Counting the Votes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190926092920/http://www.countingthevotes.com/1792/ |date=September 26, 2019 }}

{{George Washington}}
{{John Adams}}
{{USPresidentialElections}}
{{State Results of the 1792 U.S. presidential election}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1792 United States presidential election| ]]
[[Category:Presidency of George Washington]]
[[Category:George Washington]]
[[Category:John Adams]]
[[Category:George Clinton]]
[[Category:Single-candidate elections]]