1788 United States Presidential Election: Washington vs Everybody
WaMS & TOH
Washington was the big name on the ticket but there some others throwing their hats into the ring. Most states put one or multiple candidates on the ballot and here are some of them. Georgia wanted Federalists John Milton, Edward Telfair and James Armstrong while Massachusetts had General Benjamin Lincoln, Governor John Hancock and John Adams as their picks. The only Democratic Republican on the ticket was New York's George Clinton while the Federalist New Yorker would be John Jay. South Carolina wanted John Rutledge, Maryland wanted Robert H Harrison and Connecticut chose Samuel Huntington. Let's take a look at the challengers to the throne.
John Milton was born in Halifax Country, North Carolina in either 1740 or 1757 depending on who you talk to. He enlisted in the Continental Army in 1776 and was actually taken prisoner when American troops charged into Fort Howe in February 1777. The attack failed and Milton wasn't released from St. Augustine Castle in Florida until November. He was promoted to captain and served until 1782, not long before the War was officially over. During the war, Milton settled in Georgia and became the first Secretary of The State back in 1777. He founded the Society of Cincinnati which was made up of ex-war veterans following the war and his years of both military and political service earned him one of the nods for presidency.
James Armstrong was born in Georgia and he's one of the very few politicians that literally came out of nowhere. He was born somewhere in Georgia but made his name when the city of Colerain was established. Since the city no longer exists, a lot of Armstrong's records have been lost as well. He was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1787 and that got him on the ticket to run for president.
Rounding out the trio from Georgia is Scottish born Edward Telfair. He was born in 1735 but immigrated to the United States in 1758. He moved to Georgia in 1766 and 8 years later married 16 year old Sarah Gibbons who's mother ran a plantation house. A 39 year old marrying a 16 year old would be frowned upon today but back then it was not out of the ordinary. If that wasn't offensive enough, he was a slave trader and was one of the top consultants of slavery in the United States during the course of his life. He was a savant in producing numbers such as how long plantation slaves lived compared to house slaves in different areas, what they'd be worth, and how to catch runaways. As a politician, he was elected to the Georgia Provincial Congress in 1778 and was one of the Georgia dignitaries to sign the Articles of Confederation. In 1783, he was assigned to overlook a treaty signing between Creek Native Americans and North Carolina. He was the Governor of Georgia from 1786-87 and that's how he got to be apart of the ballot of President.
Representing New York as the only Democratic Republican was George Clinton. Just like George Washington, he too was in the French/Indian War serving as a 19 year old lieutenant under his father, Colonel Charles Clinton. After the war he studied law and went into practice in 1764. He became New York's DA in 1765 and in 1775, he and his brother James radicalized into pro-Revolutionaries. George tried to warn the colonists to take up arms long before the battle of Concord broke out in March of 1775. He was such a radical that he even called for the assassination of King George the 3rd, gadzooks! At least he was on the side of the Americans and it was Clinton that kept his friend and confident George Washington supplied while George was suffering at Valley Forge. Near the end of the war he became New York's first and longest running governor. When political parties were formed, he was a well known anti-federalist, going as far as to denounce Alexander Hamilton and his call for a strong central government. He also voted AGAINST the US Constitution in 1787 arguing that it would give too much power to the federalists. He was right, but that didn't stop him from teaming with James Madison to get the Bill of Rights added to it. Clinton himself thought he didn't have enough power to knock off George Washington, the best he hoped for was to come in second place to be the Vice President. At least he was self aware.
The other representative of New York was Federalist Jon Jay. He was born to the prominent Jay family in New Rochelle, New York and went to what's now known as Columbia University as a 14 year old in 1760. In 1768, he became a high profile attorney and opened his own law firm in 1771 at 25 years old. Unlike some of the other radicals such as Massachusetts governor John Hancock and the King George hating George Clinton, Jay wanted a more peaceful resolution with the British Parliament. When Britain refused to give concessions to the colonies and went so far to attack Norfolk in January of 1776, Jay said its go time. Unfortunately he wasn't there to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776 because he was too busy sniffing out British Loyalists in New York. It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it. He was, however, one of the main components in signing the Treaty of Paris, effectively ending the Revolutionary War in 1783. The British said they'd pull out as long as the new government left the loyalists alone. John Adams himself admitted that they don't get this done without Jay. He was serving as the secretary of Foreign Affairs when the 1788 election came about. With George Clinton running as a non-federalist, it made sense for Jay to run to represent the feds.
Representing South Carolina would be John Rutledge. He was a lawyer pretty much since birth and even went to England to study law there back when the colonies were under British control. He was admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1761 as a 22 year old. Four years later, when the British introduced the infamous Stamp Act, he personally wrote to the House of Lords to re-consider. They refused and South Carolina freaked out. Nearly every stamp in the state was destroyed when the Act went into effect. After the brouhaha ended, he pretty much stayed out of the political spotlight while Massachusetts and New York led the charge against the crown. He became a rich and powerful attorney just by keeping a low profile. In 1774, he returned to politics as he was elected to the first Continental Congress. In 1776, he had Fort Moultrie built in Charlestown to dispel the British. General Charles Lee said it wasn't going to work and wanted to surrender to the British. Rutledge said like hell you will and ordered to stand ground. Just six days before the Declaration of Independence was signed, Colonel Moultrie stood ground and beat the British back. To this day the South Carolina state flag has the crest of the soldiers from the battle. In 1779, Rutledge was elected Governor of South Carolina. In 1787, he was the South Carolina representative for the Philadelphia Convention. By being the most powerful figure in South Carolina, he threw his hat in the 1788 Presidential Election.
Robert H Harrison's early records have been lost to time as he grew up in Charles County, Maryland. When he was 23, he was admitted to the bar in 1768. When the Revolutionary War began to take shape, he joined the Fairfax County Militia. He was George Washington's military secretary and was a Major by 1775. In 1776 he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel and according to future president James Monroe, where Washington went, Harrison wasn't far behind. Unfortunately Robert's father passed away in 1780 that led him resigning from the army in 1781. He went home to Maryland to be Chief Justice but due to poor health, he turned down better jobs to remain at his post. Still, his military record in Maryland and time as Washington's aide got him the Maryland bid for presidential election. Just like others, he hoped he'd win the Vice Presidency knowing he had no chance to defeat his mentor.
Samuel Huntington was the most blue collar of all the candidates in the election. He grew up pretty much educating himself in Connecticut and was a craftsman by trade in his teen years while helping out at his father's farm. He basically learned how to read books by borrowing them from others and somehow managed to pass the bar exam in 1754 at the age of 23. He was in the lower house of the Connecticut Assembly in 1764 and was elected to the upper house in 1775. Subsequently, he was named to the Second Continental Congress as Connecticut delegate. He signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and served in congress until 1783 when he got hit by small pox. In 1779, while John Jay was off galivanting in Europe, Huntington took his place as President of Continental Congress. In 1785, he was voted to be Lt. Governor of Connecticut when Matthew Griswold, no relation to Clark, got elected Governor. One year later he won the election to become Governor. He spent his time as a defacto referee in land wars between Massachusetts and New York and was the Connecticut representative to ratify the US Constitution in 1788. Because of his political power, he was chosen to be Connecticut's choice to run for President.
The first of the three Massachusetts choices was Massachusetts Lt Governor Benjamin Lincoln. His background has already been covered but the short version is he was a law enforcement officer in Hingham, Massachusetts in the 1750's before becoming a prominent fixture of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He was the General the British generals surrendered to at the Battle of Saratoga and Battle of Yorktown. He was the Secretary of War until the war ended and unsuccessfully ran for Massachusetts governor in 1785. He was also part of history when he was the General of the Continental Army in charge of putting down Shay's Rebellion, which indirectly led to the Federalist party successfully challenging for a strong central government. He was named Lt. Governor of Massachusetts prior to the 1788 Presidential Election.
"I made General Cornwallis says "WE GIVE UP!" - Benjamin Lincoln
Next up on the list was the REIGNING....DEFENDING....UNDISPUTED GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTES....JOHNNNNN HANCOCK. His story has already been mentioned on this site but here's some cliff notes. Hancock grew up in Braintree, Massachusetts to a wealthy pastor who unfortunately passed away when John was just seven. He was sent to live with his merchant uncle Thomas and John became the heir to that empire when Thomas died in 1764. John became one of the most prominent radicals and founder of the Sons of Liberty right from the start. He opposed the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act and most importantly the Townshend Act. John along with the Adams cousins Samuel and John did more to jumpstart the American Revolution than anyone else. He became a cult hero in Boston by signing his name on the Declaration of Independence in large print "so King George could see it." This made Hancock a shoe-in to win the 1780 Gubernatorial Election and he did. He was the Governor until the government cracked down on taxes following the war, resigning in 1785. He regained his title in 1787 and threw his hat in the ring hoping his popularity in Massachusetts would carry him to at least the vice presidency.
Rounding out the Massachusetts trio was ambassador and former Patriot John Adams. Adams was born in Quincy, Massachusetts to a father who was a local church deacon. His father actually baptized John Hancock when he was born. Adams attended Harvard University at age 16 in 1751 and was a teacher himself by 1755. He too was one of the original Sons of Liberty by opposing the Stamp Act in 1765. Unlike Hancock, John was more behind the scenes. He had a column in a local newspaper under the pen name Humphrey Ploughjogger where he would write scathing articles opposing British occupancy. In public he was a prominent lawyer in Boston and often butted heads with his cousin Samuel over public displays of demonstration. In fact, when the Boston Massacre went down in 1770, Hancock, Samuel and others rallied in Faneuil Hall while John took the statements of the British soldiers in the Mass (now Old) State House. Throughout the Revolutionary War, John was a diplomat arguing for a peaceful resolution while most others wanted war. John knew the Americans couldn't "win" the war but still did his best to try to talk King George out of wasting resources trying to control a country who didn't want to be controlled anymore. Adams helped write the Massachusetts Constitution and also signed the Declaration of Independence. He rubbed elbows with Virginian delegate Thomas Jefferson and along with Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston, the five of them drafted the document. He was an ambassador to France, the Netherlands and Great Britain before and after the war and because he was more level headed than Samuel and Hancock, many felt he deserved to be Vice President. Either way, Adams threw his hat in the ring.
All of these candidates more or less were after the Vice Presidency because nobody thought anyone had a chance against the odds on favorite from Virginia, General George Washington. George grew up in a relatively modest household and became a land surveyor. Then when the French and Indian War heated up in the 1750's, he had to deal with the death of his half brother Lawrence while in the British military. He was nearly killed in the Battle of Monongahela after the French killed General Braddock. Future Massachusetts governor Thomas Gage, then a Lieutenant Colonel, rallied the frazzled Washington and the remaining British troops to tuck their tails and bravely flee. Despite this, twenty years later when the Americans were going to go to war with Great Britain, they tabbed Washington as the commander in chief due to his military experience. Washington's battle record was 3-6 but some key victories included the Battle of Yorktown and surprising the German Hessians on Christmas 1776. After the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, Washington resigned from his command and retired to his estate in Mount Vernon, Virginia. In the next five years, the country was thrown into turmoil with two political parties butting heads over how to run the country. What both parties agreed on was a central monarch to run it all. The choice was clear, who better than General Washington?
All in all it was going to be a 12 man battle royal to decide the first president of the United States. Later elections would have one candidate per party but this was the first and only free-for-all. There were 138 electoral votes and the winner needed at least 35 to pull it off, may the best man win.
Of the 12 candidates, there was a 3 way tie for last place with just one electoral vote. Edward Telfair, Benjamin Lincoln and James Armstrong. Tied for 8th place with just 2 electoral votes apiece.....John Milton and Samuel Huntington, so much for them. In seventh place, George Clinton was eliminated with just 3 electoral votes. In sixth place, John Hancock was dumped out with just four votes. Tied for fourth place with just 6 votes....Robert Harrison and John Rutledge. That just left John Jay, George Washington and John Adams remaining. In third place with just 9 votes....John Jay. That meant with 34 votes, John Adams came in second place. In those days, whoever came in second was the Vice President even if he wasn't of the same party. That would prove disastrous down the road but for now, having Adams as VP wasn't so bad. That meant, in first place with 69 votes, and....NEWWWWW PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, GEORGE WASHINGTON!
The final day of election ended on January 7, 1789 and Washington was sworn in on April 30th. The whole country knew Washington was going to win but John Adams as the Vice President was a bit of a surprise. Now the United States had a Constitution, a House of Representatives, a Senate and now a Commander in Chief. The Federalists essentially won the "party war" with a strong central government established. The anti-federalists would eventually be called the Democratic Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson while Alexander Hamilton led the Federalists even with Washington and Adams in place. With France about to tear itself apart in their own Revolution, having Washington and a strong central government heading into 1789 seemed like the way to go. Congratulations to Washington to being Number 1.
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