Presidential Election of 1796

Presidential Election of 1796
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{| cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="font-size:12.32px;width:417px;background:transparent;"	1792 ←	November 4 - December 7, 1796	→ 1800
The Third Presidential Election was the first competitive Presidential Election, the election pitted former Vice President John Adams up against Senator George Benckendorf, and would go on to be the first Presidential Election decided by the United States Congress.
==Candidates==
======Democratic Party======
The Democratic Party in nominated former Vice President John Adams, who had become a major anti-elitist following his falling out with Alexander Hamilton. For the other nomination they selected Vice President George Clinton, but a small fringe group of electors in North Carolina backed John Harvest, the editor of the Freedom Post, a popular Democratic news paper.
File:JohnAdams Presidential.jpg|John Adams (Former Vice President)
File:GeorgeClinton.jpg|George Clinton (Vice President)
File:JohnHarvest.jpg|John Harvest (Editor for the Freedom Post)
===Constitutional Democratic===
The Constitutional Democrats had rallied behind Senator of Pennsylvania George Benckendorf. For the Vice President they mainly backed Henry Whittleston, but other groups backed former Governor of Massachusetts Benjamin Lincoln or Senator of Maryland John Henry.
File:GeorgeBenckendorf PPT.png|George Benckendorf (President Pro Tempore)
File:HenryWhittleston.png|Henry Whittleston (Governor of Connecticut)
File:BenjaminLincoln.jpg|Benjamin Lincoln (Former Governor of Massachusetts)
File:NoImage.jpg|John Henry (Senator of Maryland)
===Federalist===
A small group of Federalist Electors decided to back Governor of Maryland, Charles Carroll.
File:CharlesCarroll.png|Charles Carroll (Governor of Maryland)
== Campaign ==
As the Southern party picked a candidate popular in the North, and especially New England, the election seemed like a landslide for Adams, and for that reason he decided to play it safe, distancing himself from the campaign relying on Linda Banks on the matter, which later was used by Charles Davidson to portray him as the puppet of the "corrupt" Bankses in his article in the Virginia Herald.
The campaign has been turned around in 1799, when George Benckendorf, utilizing a new method of campaigning for his time, where he localized the attacks where they worked the most by using connections with the most prominent newspapers, such as The Philadelphia Tribune and the Virginia Herald. The newspapers leaked personal letters between Alexander Islington and John Adams in the South, where it has been revealed that the Vice President was agreeing with Thomas Paine on the matter of abolitionism, which caused the Southern states to back Benckendorf in droves (except for North Carolina, which voted for Gerald Smith but forced by the latter to vote for Adams later on).
The revelations about Adams have led to a newspaper war between the Virginia Herald and more popular, Banks-controlled Freedom Post , where, as it seemed, the over-aggressive Charles Davidson held the edge and made his newspaper more popular because of this infighting.
It has been estimated by experts later on that most of the campaign has been centered around Virginia, the state which could have delivered an outright Adams victory.
==Results==
The election season has been, expectedly, more negative and partisan than the two previous ones. 
With an upset victory in Virginia, most of the southern states except for Tennessee and North Carolina were solidly behind Benckendorf, and with state legislatures of New York, Vermont and North Carolina disliking other candidates, they have all backed Gerald Smith as a protest vote. The election has been a deadlock. After negotiations, initially wavering Smith has stated that he is a more classical, mainstream liberal, and actually disliked the fusion of Federalist and Radical ideologies created by Benckendorf. Thus, the votes went for Adams, and pathway for a Benckendorf Presidency was closed at the time. But yet another upset happened. 
While Benckendorf was unable to become President, Henry Whittleston tried to negotiate with the electors who originally voted for Smith, and would have become the new President easily. The electors would fall to 65-65 between former Vice President John Adams and Governor of Connecticut Henry Whittleston. Whittleston expected more, but George Benckendorf told several Pennsylvania Electors to not vote for Henry Whittleston, sending the election to the Congress chambers. As it turned out, Benckendorf knew about the plot, and was unhappy with this, thinking that democracy should not be undermined in a time of crisis. He informed John Adams of what was happening in the electoral college. The latter, extremely upset, was ready to concede anything in exchange for victory. While not willing much concessions from his opponent, after a promise to rescind the whiskey tax, Benckendorf blocked the pathway for a Whittleston presidency. 
===Popular Vote===
 	Popular Vote	Popular Vote
 	Count 	Percent
John Adams 	44,772 	54.33%
George Benckendorf	37,630 	45.67%
Total 	82,402 	100.0%
===Electoral Vote===
Candidate 	Party 	Home State 	Popular Vote	Popular Vote	Electoral Vote
Candidate 	Party 	Home State 	Count 	Percent 	Electoral Vote
John Adams 	Democratic 	Massachusetts 	44,772 	54.33% 	65
Henry Whittleston 	Constitutional Democratic	Connecticut 	-- 	-- 	65
George Benckendorf	Constitutional Democratic	Pennsylvania 	37,630 	45.67% 	62
George Clinton 	Democratic 	New York 	-- 	-- 	43
Benjamin Lincoln 	Constitutional Democratic	Massachusetts 	-- 	-- 	8
John Harvest 	Democratic 	North Carolina	-- 	-- 	3
Charles Carroll 	Federalist 	Maryland 	-- 	-- 	2
John Henry 	Constitutional Democratic	Maryland 	-- 	-- 	2
George Washington 	Independent 	Virginia 	-- 	-- 	2
===Results By State===
 	 	Adams 	Adams 	Adams	Benckendorf 	Benckendorf 	Benckendorf	Margin	Margin
State 	EVs 	# 	% 	EVs 	# 	% 	EVs 	# 	%
Connecticut 	8 	2,323 	51.4% 	8 	2,196 	48.6% 	- 	127 	2.8%
Delaware 	3 	No Popular Vote 	No Popular Vote 	3 	No Popular Vote	No Popular Vote	- 	- 	-
Georgia 	4 	3,180 	46.3% 	- 	3,688 	53.7% 	4 	-508 	-7.4%
Kentucky 	3 	1,005 	35.3% 	- 	1,841 	64.7% 	3 	-836 	-29.4%
Maryland 	10 	8,876 	63.6% 	7 	5,080 	36.4% 	3 	3,796 	27.2%
Massachusetts 	15 	9,036 	83.4% 	15 	1,798 	16.6% 	- 	7,238 	66.8%
New Hampshire 	5 	1,833 	50.1% 	5 	1,825 	49.9% 	- 	8 	0.2%
New Jersey 	6 	7,791 	81.9% 	6 	1,722 	18.1% 	- 	6,069 	63.8%
New York 	11 	No Popular Vote 	No Popular Vote 	- 	No Popular Vote	No Popular Vote	11 	- 	-
North Carolina	11 	Not Popular Vote	Not Popular Vote	11 	No Popular Vote	No Popular Vote	- 	- 	-
Pennsylvania 	13 	8,014 	32.8% 	13 	16,420 	67.2% 	1 	-8,406	-34.4%
Rhode Island 	3 	Not Popular Vote	Not Popular Vote	3 	No Popular Vote	No Popular Vote	- 	- 	-
South Carolina	7 	No Popular Vote 	No Popular Vote 	- 	No Popular Vote	No Popular Vote	7 	- 	-
Tennessee 	2 	No Popular Vote 	No Popular Vote 	3 	No Popular Vote	No Popular Vote	- 	- 	-
Vermont 	4 	No Popular Vote 	No Popular Vote 	4 	No Popular Vote	No Popular Vote	- 	- 	-
Virginia 	22 	2,714 	47% 	1 	3,060 	53% 	21 	-346 	-6%
TOTALS: 	65 (80)	44,772 	54.33% 	65 	37,630 	45.67% 	62 	7,142 	8.66%
===Electors By State===
State 	Electors	Electoral Votes	JA	HW	GB	GC	BL	JH	CC	JH	GW
Connecticut 	8 	16 	8 	3 	- 	5 	- 	- 	- 	- 	-
Delaware 	3 	6 	3 	- 	- 	3 	- 	- 	- 	- 	-
Georgia 	4 	8 	- 	4 	4 	- 	- 	- 	- 	- 	-
Kentucky 	3 	6 	- 	3 	3 	- 	- 	- 	- 	- 	-
Maryland 	10 	20 	7 	3 	3 	5 	- 	- 	- 	2 	-
Massachusetts 	15 	30 	15	- 	- 	13	- 	- 	2 	- 	-
New Hampshire 	5 	10 	5 	5 	- 	- 	- 	- 	- 	- 	-
New Jersey 	6 	12 	6 	- 	- 	6 	- 	- 	- 	- 	-
New York 	11 	22 	- 	11	11	- 	- 	- 	- 	- 	-
North Carolina	11 	22 	11	2 	1 	4 	- 	3 	- 	- 	1
Pennsylvania 	13 	26 	1 	2 	13	2 	8 	- 	- 	- 	-
Rhode Island 	3 	6 	3 	3 	- 	- 	- 	- 	- 	- 	-
South Carolina	7 	14 	- 	8 	8 	- 	- 	- 	- 	- 	-
Tennessee 	2 	4 	2 	- 	- 	2 	- 	- 	- 	- 	-
Vermont 	3 	6 	3 	3 	- 	- 	- 	- 	- 	- 	-
Virginia 	22 	44 	1 	18	21	3 	- 	- 	- 	- 	1
TOTAL 	126 	252 	65	65	62	43	8 	3 	2 	2 	2
==Congress Vote==
The Congress would convene on February 17, 1797 to vote for the President, this would be the first time the Congress would decide who would be President. The Congress would decide 12-1-3 to elect John Adams to the position of President of the United States.
State 	Adams	Whittleston	Result
Connecticut 	3 	4 	Whittleston
Delaware 	2 	0 	Adams
Georgia 	3 	0 	Adams
Kentucky 	1 	1 	Blank
Maryland 	9 	0 	Adams
Massachusetts 	13 	1 	Adams
New Hampshire 	2 	2 	Blank
New Jersey 	5 	0 	Adams
New York 	7 	3 	Adams
North Carolina	9 	1 	Adams
Pennsylvania 	6 	6 	Blank
Rhode Island 	2 	0 	Adams
South Carolina	6 	0 	Adams
Tennessee 	1 	0 	Adams
Vermont 	2 	0 	Adams
Virginia 	15 	6 	Adams
TOTAL: 	86 	24 	Adams
 	 	 	 	 	
↓ 	↓ 	↓	↓	↓	
65 	62 	 	 	 	
Adams	Benckendorf