The Gazette of the United States was an early American newspaper, first issued in 1789, that was friendly to the Federalist Party. Its founder, John Fenno, intended it to unify the country under its new government. As the leading Federalist newspaper of its time, it praised the Washington and Adams administrations and their policies. Its Federalist sponsors, chiefly Alexander Hamilton, granted it substantial funding; because some of it was directly from the government, the "Gazette" is considered to have been semi-official. The influence of the newspaper inspired the creation of the "National Gazette" and the "Philadelphia Aurora", rival newspapers for the Democratic-Republicans.