The presidential election of 1788–1789 was the first election of a federal head of state or head of government in United States history. Prior to the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1788, the U.S. had been governed under the Articles of Confederation, which provided for a very limited central government; what power that did exist was vested in the Congress of the Confederation, a unicameral legislature consisting of representatives elected by the states. The Congress of the Confederation had elected a president, but this position was largely ceremonial and was not equivalent to the presidency that was established by the United States Constitution.
Under the U.S. Constitution, the president was chosen by the Electoral College, which consisted of electors selected by each state. Prior to the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment, each elector cast two votes; the individual who received the most electoral votes would become president, while the individual who received the second-most electoral votes would become vice president. If no individual received votes from a majority of the electors, or if two individuals tied for the most votes, then the House of Representatives would select the president in a contingent election. Under the Constitution, each state determines its own method of choosing presidential electors; in the 1788–1789 presidential election, many electors were appointed by state legislators, while others were chosen through elections. In the states that did hold elections, suffrage was generally restricted to white men who owned property.
No party made a nomination for the presidency in the 1788–1789 presidential election, but several individuals vied for electoral votes. After his service in the American Revolutionary War, General George Washington was the first choice of many for president, but Washington was somewhat reluctant to re-enter public service.[4] The American public at large, however, wanted Washington to be the nation's first president.[5] The first U.S. presidential campaign was, to some degree, what today would be called a grassroots effort to convince Washington to accept the office.[5] Alexander Hamilton was one of the most dedicated in his efforts to get Washington to accept the presidency, as he foresaw himself receiving a powerful position in the administration.[6]
Less certain was the choice for the vice presidency, which contained little definitive job description in the constitution. The only official role of the vice president was as the President of the United States Senate, a duty unrelated to the executive branch.[7] Because Washington was from Virginia, Washington (who remained neutral on the candidates) assumed that a vice president would be chosen from Massachusetts to provide sectional balance between the Northern states and the Southern states.[8] In an August 1788 letter, Thomas Jefferson wrote that he considered John Adams, John Hancock, John Jay, James Madison, and John Rutledge to be contenders for the vice presidency.[9] Fearing an electoral college tie that could end with Adams winning the presidency, Alexander Hamilton arranged for several electors to vote for other candidates, including John Jay, who finished with the third most electoral votes.[10]
On April 6, 1789, the House and Senate, meeting in joint session, counted the electoral votes and certified that Washington had received electoral votes from each of the 69 electors that had cast votes, and thus had been elected president. They also certified that Adams, with 34 electoral votes, had been elected as Vice President.[11] The other 35 electoral votes were divided among: John Jay (9), Robert H. Harrison (6), John Rutledge (6), John Hancock (4), George Clinton (3), Samuel Huntington (2), John Milton (2), James Armstrong (1), Benjamin Lincoln (1), and Edward Telfair (1).[12] Only ten of the thirteen states cast electoral votes; North Carolina and Rhode Island did not participate as they had not yet ratified the Constitution, while the New York legislature failed to appoint its allotted electors in time.[13]
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