Evening star., 1951-02-10
1t Was Capitol Hills First Big Fight
By Edword Boykin

L w Wao 0lNS Avn AAdia IA w eSAAA>~o
l. ton on February II. 1801--a century
and a half ago tomorrow-when the
House of Representatives assembled in
the north wing Of the unfinished Capt.
tol to pick President between Thomas
jefferson and Aaron Burr. For the flrSt
time in American history the House OF
Representatives was called on to make
this momentouS choice.
No one cared about the weather. With
only two absentees, the House came to
order at the rap of Speaker Sedgwick's
gavel One member, Joseph Nicholson
of Maryland bedridden with fever, had
even insisted on being carried to the
Capitol through the binding snow on
a stretcher, to cast his ballot for
Jefferson
The infant City of Washington had
been Capital of the Nation less than
three months. Boarding houses on
Capitol Hill and in Georgetown were
packed with politicians, who slept three
and even four to bed and who, ac-
cording to one authority. drank politics
instead of liquor The bitter elections
of November, 1900, had left the presi-
dency hanging in the air-and thereby
hangs this story of Capitol Hills first
exciting political battle.
Sixteen States had participated in the
1900 elections, and the electoral college
votes had tailed up: Jefferson, 70;
Burr. 70; John Adams. 65; Charles
Pinckney, "a; John Jay. /. President
Adams was defeated, but Thomas JEFF
ferson was not elected. Through
constitutional quirk, he and Burr, the
supposed candidate for Vice President,
were tied for first place. Under the
Constitution, it now fell to the strongly
Federalist House of Representatives to
choose between the two.
To the Federalists, who considered
the election of Jefferson as a national
calamity, it seemed a heaven-sent op-
portunity to deny him the presidency.
A caucus of the Federalist members of
the House decided on supporting Burr.
Not that they liked Burr. but they con-
sidered him the lesser of two evils.
For his part, Burr was willing. In
politics he was shrewd, ambitious, pitt
less, a deft hand at conspiracy. ready
to deal with friend or foe. Quietly, from
his mysterious lair at Albany, Burr
began intriguing for Federalist support
against his running mate who was the
obvious choice of the Nation.
This scheme to elect Burr instead OF
Jefferson might have worked but for
one man. Alexander Hamilton, who re-
fused to 60 along with it. To Gouver-
neur Morris, Federalist leader on Capt.
tol Hill, Hamilton wrote: II trust the
Federalists will not finally be so mad
as to vote for Burr. His election can
only promote the purposes of the des-'
perate and the profigate. If there be
a man in the world whom I ought to
hate. it is Jefferson. But the public
good must be paramount to every pri-
vate consideration"
Hamilton's most powerful efforts to
divert Federalist support from Burr
were directed at James A. Bayard, lone
member of the House from Delaware.
Even at this distance, Hamilton may
have seen himself facing Burr with
pistols at 20 PAGES one tragic summer
morning.
jefferson, the tall, reddish-haired Vice
President, presided over the Senate, just
across the hall. Throughout the pre-
liminaries, he had lived quietly at Mrs.
Conrad's boarding house on nearby New
Jersey avenue. He had refused to make
a deal by which he would come into
tllC O1lCC VI IICSlOSllG NY CdpltuldUlOI
and with my hands tied"
AS the House settled down to it's
momentous business, the Federalists had
still another trick up their sleeve. In
the event the House reached no de-
cision-and this was possible-the coun-
try would then be without President
come March 4. The Senate must then
take over the country and run it for
tho FoHnrofictc pt1f LAT ha
known that if this was attempted the
Senate could expect troops from vir-
ginia.
Under the rules, each State voted as
unit. Nine States were necessary for
a choice.
The first ballot gave Jefferson eight
States: New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl-
vania, Virginia. North Carolina, Georgia.
Kentucky and Tennessee. Burr got six
States: New Hampshire. Rhode Island,
Massachusetts,. Connecticut, Delaware
and South Carolina. Two States, Mary
land and Vermont. divided evenly. An
other ballot followed at once, with the
same result. Then came a third,
fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh with
no change.
AS each ballot was taken a teller
0AA4SA w Vic SOAAlAl4ItCC 1OOui WllCIc
Representative Nicholson lay, gravely
i'll. Aided by his resolute wife, Nichol-
son was aroused. a pencil put in his
burning fingers and guided so he could
write the name Jefferson on the ballot.
Had Nicholson not taken this course,
Maryland would have been lost to JET
ferson.
The day wore on. Eight more bal
lots No change DARKNESS fell m
snow-covered Washington. The fire.
places were piled high, blankets were
brought in. The rules said no adjourn
ment. BY midnight, 10 votes had been
taken, and the lines were still unbroken.
Weary members fell asleep in their
chairs and slumped to the floor, only to
be aroused for more ballots The 9th
came at 8 o'clock next morning. Still