Elections Then & Now

Fun Fact: Lame duck President Adams appointed John Marshall as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Fun Fact: Jefferson believed that the nation would require “a little rebellion now and then to clear the atmosphere.”

Fun Fact:James Callender of The Philadelphia Aurora described Adams as “a hideous hermaphroditical character which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.” (Calender was arrested for inciting the American people against the President. He was found guilty and sentenced to nine months in prison.)

Fun Fact: One New York paper assured its readers that a Jefferson victory would mean civil war. Hordes of Frenchmen and Irishmen, “the refuse of Europe,” would flood the country and threaten the life of ” all who love order, peace, virtue and religion.”

Fun Fact: Although Adams was a Federalist, he was not embraced by all in his party. Alexander Hamilton launched a letter campaign to his High Federalist coterie declaring Adams as unfit and incapable as President, a man whose defects of character were guaranteed to bring ruin to the party.

(Fun Facts courtesy of David McCullough, from his biography of John Adams.)

This entry was posted in History, Inept vs. Insane, Politics. Bookmark the permalink.

3 Responses to Elections Then & Now

  1. Chris Peterson says:

    Fun fact: On the same day, September 24th, 1789, that he signed the new “Judiciary Act” which created the position of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, President Washington nominated John Jay, of the Federalist Papers fame, to the position and Jay was unanimously confirmed two days later, making him the first Supreme Court Chief Justice.
    As a by-note, comparing Trump to either Adams or Jefferson is absurd. Both founding fathers were intellectual statesmen of their time, far from the con man character of the rapist known as Trump. The decision we make today as a nation pretty much seals our fate as a democracy, one way or the other.

    • rlcrabb says:

      The candidates may have not been as uninspiring as today’s, but the electorate was just as divided. We’ll just have to see how this contest plays out.
      It’s hard to predict which side will become more unhinged when they lose.

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