{{Short description|none}} {{more citations needed|date=April 2017}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Use American English|date=February 2023}}{{for|related races|1788–89 United States elections}} {{Infobox election | election_name = 1788–89 United States presidential election | country = United States | flag_year = 1777 | type = presidential | ongoing = no | previous_election = | next_election = 1792 United States presidential election | next_year = 1792 | votes_for_election = 69 members of the [[United States Electoral College|Electoral College]] | needed_votes = 35 electoral{{efn|name=elec|73 total electors were appointed, four of which did not vote (2 in Maryland and 2 in Virginia). According to the unamended constitution, a majority of the total number of appointed electors was required for election to the Presidency.}} | turnout = 11.6%{{cite web|url=http://www.electproject.org/national-1789-present|title=National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present|work=United States Election Project|publisher=[[CQ Press]]}} | election_date = {{start and end dates|1788|12|15|1789|1|7}} | image_size = x200px | image1 = George Washington Portrait (3x4 cropped).jpg | nominee1 = '''[[George Washington]]''' | party1 = [[Independent (United States)|Independent]] | home_state1 = [[Virginia]] | electoral_vote1 = '''69''' | states_carried1 = '''10''' | popular_vote1 = '''33,460''' | percentage1 = '''100.0%''' | map = {{1788-89 United States presidential election imagemap}} | map_size = 350px | map_caption = Presidential election results map. Tan denotes states won by Washington. Black denotes states that did not appoint any electors. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes cast by each state.{{NoteTag|New York had ratified the Constitution but its [[New York State Legislature|legislature]] failed to appoint presidential electors on time, while North Carolina and Rhode Island had not yet ratified. Vermont governed itself as an [[Vermont Republic|unrecognized republic]].}} | title = President | before_election = ''Office established'' | after_election = [[George Washington]] | after_party = Independent (United States) }} [[United States presidential election|Presidential elections]] were held in the [[Confederation of United States of America|United States]] from December 15, 1788 to January 7, 1789, under the new [[Constitution of the United States|Constitution]] ratified in 1788. [[George Washington]] was unanimously elected for the first of his two terms as [[President of the United States|president]] and [[John Adams]] became the first [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]]. This was the only U.S. presidential election that spanned two calendar years without a [[contingent election]] and the first national presidential election in American history. Under the [[Articles of Confederation]], which were ratified in 1781, the United States had no [[head of state]]. The executive function of government remained with the legislative similar to countries that use a [[parliamentary system]]. Federal power, strictly limited, was reserved to the [[Congress of the Confederation]] whose "President of the United States in Congress Assembled" was also chair of the [[Committee of the States]] which aimed to fulfill a function similar to that of the modern [[Cabinet of the United States|Cabinet]]. The [[Constitution of the United States|Constitution]] created the offices of [[President of the United States|President]] and [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]], fully separating these offices from Congress. The Constitution established an [[United States Electoral College|Electoral College]], based on each state's congressional representation, in which each elector would cast two votes for two candidates, a procedure modified in 1804 by the ratification of the [[Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twelfth Amendment]]. States had varying methods for choosing presidential electors.See "Alternative methods for choosing electors" under [[United States Electoral College|Electoral College]]. In five states, the state legislature chose electors. The other six chose electors through some form involving a popular vote, though in only two states did the choice depend directly on a statewide vote. The enormously popular Washington was distinguished as the former Commander of the [[Continental Army]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]]. After he agreed to come out of retirement, he was elected with ease unanimously; Washington did not select a running mate as that concept was not yet developed. No formal [[political party|political parties]] existed, though an informally organized consistent difference of opinion had already manifested between [[Federalism in the United States#Federalism in the early Republic|Federalists]] and [[Anti-Federalists]]. Thus, the contest for the vice-presidency was open. [[Thomas Jefferson]] predicted that a popular Northern leader such as Governor [[John Hancock]] of [[Massachusetts]] or [[John Adams]], a former minister to [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] who had represented Massachusetts in Congress, would be elected vice president. Anti-Federalists leaders such as [[Patrick Henry]], who did not run, and [[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]], who had opposed ratification of the Constitution, also represented potential choices. All 69 electors present cast one vote for Washington, making his election unanimous. Adams won 34 electoral votes and the vice presidency. The remaining 35 electoral votes were split among 10 candidates, including [[John Jay]], who finished third with nine electoral votes. Three states were ineligible to participate in the election: [[New York State Legislature|New York's legislature]] did not choose electors on time, and [[North Carolina]] and [[Rhode Island]] had not yet ratified the constitution. Washington was [[Presidency of George Washington|inaugurated]] in New York City on April 30, 1789, 57 days after the [[1st United States Congress|First Congress]] convened. ==Candidates== {{Unreferenced section|date=September 2024}} Though no organized political parties yet existed, political opinion loosely divided between those who had more stridently and enthusiastically endorsed ratification of the Constitution, called Federalists, and Anti-Federalists who had only more reluctantly, skeptically, or conditionally supported, or who had outright opposed ratification. Both factions supported Washington for president. Limited, primitive political campaigning occurred in states and localities where swaying public opinion might have mattered. For example, in [[Maryland]], a state with a statewide popular vote, unofficial parties campaigned locally, advertising. ===Federalist candidates=== File:JohnAdams.png |{{Center|Former [[List of ambassadors of the United States to the Netherlands|Minister to the Netherlands]]
'''[[John Adams]]'''
from [[Massachusetts]]}} File:John Jay (cropped).jpg|{{Center|[[List of United States secretaries of state|Secretary of Foreign Affairs]]
'''[[John Jay]]'''
from [[New York (state)|New York]]}} File:John Rutledge (Cropped).jpg|{{Center|Former [[Governor of South Carolina|Governor]]
'''[[John Rutledge]]'''
of [[South Carolina]]}} File:John Hancock 1770-crop.jpg|{{Center|[[Governor of Massachusetts|Governor]]
'''[[John Hancock]]'''
of [[Massachusetts]]}} File:Samuel Huntington - Charles Willson Peale (3x4 cropped).jpg|{{Center|[[Governor of Connecticut|Governor]]'''
[[Samuel Huntington (Connecticut politician)|Samuel Huntington]]'''
of [[Connecticut]]}} File:Robert Harrison sketch by Trumbull c.1788.jpg|{{Center|Judge
'''[[Robert H. Harrison]]'''
of [[Maryland]]}} File:General Benjamin Lincoln-restored (3x4 cropped).jpg|{{Center|[[Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts|Lieutenant Governor]]
'''[[Benjamin Lincoln]]'''
of [[Massachusetts]]}} ===Anti-Federalist candidates=== File:George Clinton by Ezra Ames (3x4 cropped).jpg|{{Center|[[Governor of New York|Governor]]
'''[[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]]'''
of [[New York (state)|New York]]}} ==General election== No nomination process existed at the time of planning, and thus, the framers of the Constitution presumed that Washington would be elected unopposed. For example, [[Alexander Hamilton]] spoke for national opinion when in a letter to Washington attempting to persuade him to leave retirement on his farm in [[Mount Vernon, Virginia|Mount Vernon]] to serve as the first president, he wrote that "...the point of light in which you stand at home and abroad will make an infinite difference in the respectability in which the government will begin its operations in the alternative of your being or not being the head of state."{{cite book |last=Villegas |first=Christina G. |year=2018 |title=Alexander Hamilton: Documents Decoded |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-4408-5763-8 |pages=174–175 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pBnHEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA174}} Another uncertainty was the choice for the [[Vice President of the United States|vice presidency]], which contained no definite job description beyond being the president's designated successor and presiding over the Senate. The Constitution stipulated that the position would be awarded to the runner-up in the presidential election. Because Washington was from Virginia, then the largest state, many assumed that electors would choose a vice president from a northern state. In an August 1788 letter, U.S. Minister to France [[Thomas Jefferson]] wrote that he considered John Adams and John Hancock, both from Massachusetts, to be the top contenders. Jefferson suggested John Jay, [[John Rutledge]], and Virginian James Madison as other possible candidates.Meacham 2012. Adams received 34 electoral votes, one short of a majority – because the Constitution did not require an outright majority in the Electoral College prior to ratification of the Twelfth Amendment to elect a runner-up as vice president, Adams was elected to that post. The outgoing [[Congress of the Confederation]] announced the procedure for the election on September 13, 1788, stipulating that all electors must be chosen on the first Wednesday in January (January 7, 1789), and that the electors must assemble to cast their votes for president and vice president on the first Wednesday in February (February 4).{{cite book| last=Maier|first=Pauline | author-link=Pauline Maier| title=Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787–1788|date=2010|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York, New York| url=https://archive.org/details/ratificationpeop0000maie/page/429/mode/2up |isbn=978-0-684-86854-7}}, pp. 429-430. However, the states differed in their interpretations of this procedure and of the relevant portions of the new Constitution. New Hampshire and Massachusetts held a popular vote for their presidential electors alongside the elections for their representatives in the new Congress, on December 15 and December 18, respectively. In these two states, the legislatures ultimately chose the electors based on the voting results on the appointed day, January 7. In Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, the electors were chosen directly by the popular vote on January 7. In Connecticut, Georgia, and South Carolina, the electors were appointed by the legislature alone on January 7, while in New Jersey the governor and council selected them on that day. The legislature in New York was unable to agree on a method for choosing the electors before January 7, and so the state could not appoint any electors.Stephens, Frank Fletcher. ''[https://archive.org/details/peri00steptransitionalrich/page/66/mode/2up The transitional period, 1788-1789, in the government of the United States]'', [[University of Missouri Press]], 1909, pp. 67-74. [[Voter turnout]] comprised a low single-digit percentage of the adult population. Though all states allowed some rudimentary form of [[Voting rights in the United States|popular vote]], only six ratifying states allowed any form of popular vote specifically for presidential electors. In most states only white men, and in many only those who owned property, could vote. Free black men could vote in four Northern states, and women could vote in New Jersey until 1804. In some states, there was a nominal religious test for voting. For example, in Massachusetts and Connecticut, the Congregational Church was [[Separation of church and state in the United States#Patrick Henry, Massachusetts, and Connecticut|established]], supported by taxes. Voting was hampered by poor communications and infrastructure and the labor demands imposed by farming. Two months passed after the election before the votes were counted and Washington was notified that he had been elected president. Washington spent eight days traveling from Virginia to New York for the inauguration.{{Cite web |title=Accepting the Presidency |url=https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/accepting-the-presidency/ |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=George Washington's Mount Vernon |language=en}} Congress took twenty-eight days to assemble.{{Cite web |title=A Saturday Session in the First Congress {{!}} US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives |url=https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1700s/A-Saturday-session-in-the-First-Congress/ |access-date=2023-02-18 |website=history.house.gov |language=en}} As the electors were selected, politics intruded, and the process was not free of rumors and intrigue. For example, Hamilton aimed to ensure that Adams did not inadvertently tie Washington in the electoral vote.Chernow, 272–273. Also, Federalists spread rumors that Anti-Federalists plotted to elect [[Richard Henry Lee]] or [[Patrick Henry]] president, with [[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]] as vice president. However, Clinton received only three electoral votes.{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP_George_Clinton.htm|title=VP George Clinton|website=www.senate.gov|access-date=2016-04-15}} ==Results== ===Popular vote=== {| class="wikitable" style=text-align:right |- ! rowspan=2 | ! colspan=2 | Popular vote{{sup|(a), (b), (c)}} |- ! Count ! Percentage |- | align=left | '''[[Federalism in the United States|Federalist]] electors''' | 26,299 | 78.60% |- | align=left | '''[[Anti-Federalists|Anti-Federalist]] electors''' | 7,161 | 21.40% |- | '''Total''' | 33,460 | 100.00% |} '''Source:''' ''[https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/ A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns, 1787–1825]''. [[American Antiquarian Society]]. {{sup|(a)}} ''Only six of the 11 states eligible to cast electoral votes chose electors by any form of popular vote.''
{{sup|(b)}} ''Less than 1.8% of the population voted: the 1790 census would count a total population of 3.0 million with a free population of 2.4 million and 600,000 slaves in those states casting electoral votes.''
{{sup|(c)}} ''Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements.'' ===Electoral vote=== {{start U.S. presidential election box|pv_footnote={{sup|(a), (b), (c)}}|ev_footnote={{sup|(d), (e), (f)}}}} {{U.S. presidential election box row|name=[[George Washington]]|party=[[Independent politician|Independent]] |state=[[Virginia]]|pv=33,460|pv_pct=100.00%|ev=69}} {{U.S. presidential election box row|name=[[John Adams]]|party=[[Federalism in the United States|Federalist]]|state=[[Massachusetts]]|pv=—|pv_pct=—|ev=34}} {{U.S. presidential election box row|name=[[John Jay]]|party=[[Federalism in the United States|Federalist]]|state=[[New York (state)|New York]]|pv=—|pv_pct=—|ev=9}} {{U.S. presidential election box row|name=[[Robert H. Harrison]]|party=[[Federalism in the United States|Federalist]]|state=[[Maryland]]|pv=—|pv_pct=—|ev=6}} {{U.S. presidential election box row|name=[[John Rutledge]]|party=[[Federalism in the United States|Federalist]]|state=[[South Carolina]]|pv=—|pv_pct=—|ev=6}} {{U.S. presidential election box row|name=[[John Hancock]]|party=[[Federalism in the United States|Federalist]]|state=[[Massachusetts]]|pv=—|pv_pct=—|ev=4}} {{U.S. presidential election box row|name=[[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]]|party=[[Anti-Federalists|Anti-Federalist]]|state=[[New York (state)|New York]]|pv=—|pv_pct=—|ev=3}} {{U.S. presidential election box row|name=[[Samuel Huntington (Connecticut politician)|Samuel Huntington]]|party=[[Federalism in the United States|Federalist]]|state=[[Connecticut]]|pv=—|pv_pct=—|ev=2}} {{U.S. presidential election box row|name=[[John Milton (Georgia politician)|John Milton]]|party=[[Federalism in the United States|Federalist]]|state=[[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]|pv=—|pv_pct=—|ev=2}} {{U.S. presidential election box row|name=[[James Armstrong (Georgia politician)|James Armstrong]]{{sup|(g)}}|party=[[Federalism in the United States|Federalist]]|state=[[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]{{sup|(g)}}|pv=—|pv_pct=—|ev=1}} {{U.S. presidential election box row|name=[[Benjamin Lincoln]]|party=[[Federalism in the United States|Federalist]]|state=[[Massachusetts]]|pv=—|pv_pct=—|ev=1}} {{U.S. presidential election box row|name=[[Edward Telfair]]|party=[[Federalism in the United States|Federalist]]{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Charles J. |title=Edward Telfair |url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/edward-telfair-1735-1807/ |website=New Georgia Encyclopedia |access-date=November 24, 2022}}|state=[[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]|pv=—|pv_pct=—|ev=1}} {{end U.S. presidential election box|pv=33,460|ev=69|to_win=35}} '''Source:''' {{National Archives EV source| year=1789| as of=July 30, 2005}}
'''Source (popular vote):''' ''[https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/ A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns, 1787–1825]''. American Antiquarian Society.{{cite web|url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&f%5Belection_type_sim%5D%5B%5D=General&f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&range%5Bdate_sim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=1820&range%5Bdate_sim%5D%5Bend%5D=1820&q=1789&search_field=all_fields&commit=search|title=A New Nation Votes}} {{sup|(a)}} ''Only 6 of the 10 states casting electoral votes chose electors by any form of the popular vote.''
{{sup|(b)}} ''Less than 1.8% of the population voted: the 1790 census would count a total population of 3.0 million with a free population of 2.4 million and 600,000 slaves in those states casting electoral votes.''
{{sup|(c)}} ''Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements.''
{{sup|(d)}} ''As the New York legislature failed to appoint its allotted eight electors in time, there were no voting electors from New York.''
{{sup|(e)}} ''Two electors from Maryland did not vote.''
{{sup|(f)}} ''One elector from Virginia did not vote and another elector from Virginia was not chosen because an election district failed to submit returns.''
{{sup|(g)}} ''The identity of this candidate comes from ''The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections'' (Gordon DenBoer (ed.), [[University of Wisconsin Press]], 1984, p. 441). Several respected sources, including the [[Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]] and the [[Political Graveyard]], show this individual to be James Armstrong of Pennsylvania. However, primary sources, such as the Senate Journal, list only Armstrong's name, not his state. Skeptics observe that Armstrong received his single vote from a Georgia elector. They find this improbable because Armstrong of Pennsylvania was not nationally famous—his public service to that date consisted of being a medical officer during the American Revolution and, at most, a single year as a Pennsylvania judge.'' {{bar box |title=Popular vote |width=600px |barwidth=410px |bars= {{bar percent|'''Washington (total)'''|{{party color|Independent (US)}}|100.0}} {{bar percent|''Federalists''|{{party color|Federalists (United States)}}|79.7}} {{bar percent|''Anti-Federalists''|{{party color|Anti-Federalists}}|20.3}} }} {{bar box |title=Electoral vote{{efn|Electors voted for two candidates; percentages are calculated as a share of the total number of electors.}} |width=600px |barwidth=410px |bars= {{bar percent|'''Washington'''|{{party color|Other}}|100.0}} {{bar percent|Adams|{{party color|Federalists (United States)}}|49.3}} {{bar percent|Jay|{{party color|Federalists (United States)}}|13.0}} {{bar percent|Harrison|{{party color|Federalists (United States)}}|8.7}} {{bar percent|Rutledge|{{party color|Federalists (United States)}}|8.7}} {{bar percent|Hancock|{{party color|Federalists (United States)}}|5.8}} {{bar percent|Clinton|{{party color|Anti-Federalist}}|4.3}} {{bar percent|Huntington|{{party color|Federalists (United States)}}|3.0}} {{bar percent|Milton|{{party color|Federalists (United States)}}|3.0}} {{bar percent|Armstrong|{{party color|Federalists (United States)}}|1.4}} {{bar percent|Lincoln|{{party color|Federalists (United States)}}|1.4}} {{bar percent|Telfair|{{party color|Federalists (United States)}}|1.4}} }} ===Results by state=== ====Popular vote==== Early presidential elections used a form of [[plurality block voting]] that preceded the widespread adoption of the [[general ticket]]. Under this system, voters elected each member of the Electoral College individually; electors nominated by the same political party often received differing numbers of votes as a consequence of [[voter rolloff]], [[split-ticket voting]], or [[Electoral fusion in the United States|electoral fusion]].{{cite book |last1=Petersen |first1=Svend |title=A Statistical History of the American Presidential Elections |date=1963 |publisher=Frederick Ungar Publishing Company |location=New York |lccn=62-21786 |pages=vii–ix |url=https://archive.org/details/statisticalhisto00pete}} In most cases, this table calculates the popular vote of each state based on the votes for the leading Federalist and Anti-Federalist electors in each constituent county or township. In states where the electors were chosen from [[single-member district]]s, all votes for Federalist and Anti-Federalist electors are counted. Most townships in New Hampshire are missing data for this election; the figure shown is the result for the leading Federalist elector statewide. Because published compilations of the election results are missing labels for many electors, the estimate presented here is incomplete. {| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right" |- !rowspan=2| State !rowspan=2| {{abbr|E.V.|Electoral Votes}} !colspan=3| George Washington
Federalist !colspan=3| George Washington
Anti-Federalist !colspan=2| Margin !rowspan=2| Total !rowspan=2| {{abbr|Cit.|Citation}} |- ! Votes ! % ! {{abbr|E.V.|Electoral Votes}} ! Votes ! % ! {{abbr|E.V.|Electoral Votes}} ! Votes ! % |- {{party shading/Pro-Administration}} ! [[1788–89 United States presidential election in Connecticut|Connecticut]] ! 7 |colspan=2| {{tooltip|*|Electors chosen by the legislature}} | 7 |colspan=2| {{tooltip|*|Electors chosen by the legislature}} | — |colspan=2| {{tooltip|*|Electors chosen by the legislature}} | — | |- {{party shading/Pro-Administration}} ! [[1788–89 United States presidential election in Delaware|Delaware]] ! 3 | 685 | 100.00 | 3 |colspan=2| — | — | 685 | 100.00 | 685 | {{Cite web|title=A New Nation Votes|url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&f%5Bstate_name_sim%5D%5B%5D=Delaware&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=1788&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bend%5D=1789&search_field=dummy_range|access-date=2020-12-31|website=elections.lib.tufts.edu}} |- {{party shading/Pro-Administration}} ! [[1788–89 United States presidential election in Georgia|Georgia]] ! 5 |colspan=2| {{tooltip|*|Electors chosen by the legislature}} | 5 |colspan=2| {{tooltip|*|Electors chosen by the legislature}} | — |colspan=2| {{tooltip|*|Electors chosen by the legislature}} | — | |- {{party shading/Pro-Administration}} ! [[1788–89 United States presidential election in Maryland|Maryland]] ! 8 | 5,937 | 70.08 | 8{{efn|Two electors from Maryland did not vote.}} | 2,535 | 29.92 | — | 3,402 | 40.16 | 8,472 |{{Cite web|title=A New Nation Votes|url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&f%5Bstate_name_sim%5D%5B%5D=Maryland&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=1788&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bend%5D=1789&search_field=dummy_range|access-date=2020-12-31|website=elections.lib.tufts.edu}} |- {{party shading/Pro-Administration}} ! [[1788–89 United States presidential election in Massachusetts|Massachusetts]] ! 10 | 6,560 | 78.07 | 10 | 1,843 | 21.93 | — | 4,717 | 56.14 | 8,403 |{{Cite web|title=A New Nation Votes|url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&f%5Bstate_name_sim%5D%5B%5D=Massachusetts&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=1788&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bend%5D=1789&search_field=dummy_range|access-date=2020-12-31|website=elections.lib.tufts.edu}} |- {{party shading/Pro-Administration}} ! [[1788–89 United States presidential election in New Hampshire|New Hampshire]] ! 5 | 1,759 | 92.92 | 5 | 134 | 7.07 | — | 1,625 | 85.85 | 1,893 |{{Cite web|title=A New Nation Votes|url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&f%5Bstate_name_sim%5D%5B%5D=New+Hampshire&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=1788&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bend%5D=1789&search_field=dummy_range|access-date=2020-12-31|website=elections.lib.tufts.edu}} |- {{party shading/Pro-Administration}} ! [[1788–89 United States presidential election in New Jersey|New Jersey]] ! 6 |colspan=2| {{tooltip|*|Electors chosen by the legislature}} | 6 |colspan=2| {{tooltip|*|Electors chosen by the legislature}} | — |colspan=2| {{tooltip|*|Electors chosen by the legislature}} | — | |- {{party shading/Pro-Administration}} ! New York ! 8 |colspan=2| {{tooltip|*|Electors chosen by the legislature}} | —{{efn|name=failed|The New York State Legislature failed to appoint electors.}} |colspan=2| {{tooltip|*|Electors chosen by the legislature}} | —{{efn|name=failed}} |colspan=2| {{tooltip|*|Electors chosen by the legislature}} | — | |- {{party shading/Pro-Administration}} ! [[1788–89 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] ! 10 | 6,718 | 88.05 | 10 | 912 | 11.95 | — | 5,806 | 76.10 | 7,630 |{{Cite web|title=A New Nation Votes|url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&f%5Bstate_name_sim%5D%5B%5D=Pennsylvania&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=1788&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bend%5D=1789&search_field=dummy_range|access-date=2020-12-31|website=elections.lib.tufts.edu}} |- {{party shading/Pro-Administration}} ! [[1788–89 United States presidential election in South Carolina|South Carolina]] ! 7 |colspan=2| {{tooltip|*|Electors chosen by the legislature}} | 7 |colspan=2| {{tooltip|*|Electors chosen by the legislature}} | — |colspan=2| {{tooltip|*|Electors chosen by the legislature}} | — | |- {{party shading/Pro-Administration}} ! [[1788–89 United States presidential election in Virginia|Virginia]] ! 12 | 4,640 | 72.76 | 8{{efn|One elector from Virginia did not vote. No elector was chosen from Virginia's 9th electoral district.}} | 1,737 | 27.24 | 3{{efn|One elector from Virginia did not vote. No elector was chosen from Virginia's 9th electoral district.}} | 2,903 | 45.52 | 6,377 |{{Cite web|title=A New Nation Votes|url=https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/?f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&f%5Bstate_name_sim%5D%5B%5D=Virginia&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=1788&range%5Bpub_date_facet_isim%5D%5Bend%5D=1789&search_field=dummy_range|access-date=2020-12-31|website=elections.lib.tufts.edu}} |- ! TOTAL ! 81 ! 26,299 ! 78.60 ! 69 ! 7,161 ! 21.40 ! 3 ! 19,138 ! 57.20 ! 33,460 ! |} ====Electoral vote==== Sixty-nine electors voted out of a possible 91: Two electors from Maryland and two from Virginia did not vote, the [[New York State Legislature]] was deadlocked and the state's 8 electors were not appointed (see below), and North Carolina and Rhode Island with 7 and 3 electoral votes respectively had not yet ratified the Constitution. As per the terms of the unamended constitution, each elector was permitted two votes for president, with a majority of "the whole number of electors appointed" necessary to elect a president. Of the 69 participating electors, each cast one vote for Washington, who was elected president. Of the remaining candidates, only Adams, Jay, and Hancock received votes from more than one state; with 34 votes, Adams finished second behind only Washington, and by virtue of which fact was elected vice president. {|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right" |- ! State ! {{abbr|E|Electors}} ! {{abbr|EV|Electoral Votes}} ! {{abbrlink|GW|George Washington}} ! {{abbrlink|JAd|John Adams}} ! {{abbrlink|JJ|John Jay}} ! {{abbrlink|RH|Robert H. Harrison}} ! {{abbrlink|JR|John Rutledge}} ! {{abbrlink|JH|John Hancock}} ! {{abbrlink|GC|George Clinton (vice president)}} ! {{abbrlink|SH|Samuel Huntington (statesman)}} ! {{abbrlink|JM|John Milton (Georgia politician)}} ! {{abbrlink|JAr|James Armstrong (Georgia politician)}} ! {{abbrlink|BL|Benjamin Lincoln}} ! {{abbrlink|ET|Edward Telfair}} ! Blank |- ! [[1788-89 United States presidential election in Connecticut|Connecticut]] ! 7 ! 14 | 7 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | — | — | — | — | — |- ! [[1788-89 United States presidential election in Delaware|Delaware]] ! 3 ! 6 | 3 | — | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |- ! [[1788-89 United States presidential election in Georgia|Georgia]] ! 5 ! 10 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — |- ! [[1788-89 United States presidential election in Maryland|Maryland]] ! 8 ! 16 | 6 | — | — | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 |- ! [[1788-89 United States presidential election in Massachusetts|Massachusetts]] ! 10 ! 20 | 10 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |- ! [[1788-89 United States presidential election in New Hampshire|New Hampshire]] ! 5 ! 10 | 5 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |- ! [[1788-89 United States presidential election in New Jersey|New Jersey]] ! 6 ! 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |- ! New York ! 8 ! 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 16 |- ! [[1788-89 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] ! 10 ! 20 | 10 | 8 | — | — | — | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |- ! [[1788-89 United States presidential election in South Carolina|South Carolina]] ! 7 ! 14 | 7 | — | — | — | 6 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |- ! [[1788-89 United States presidential election in Virginia|Virginia]] ! 12 ! 24 | 10 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 1 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | 4 |- ! TOTAL ! 81 ! 162 ! 69 ! 34 ! 9 ! 6 ! 6 ! 4 ! 3 ! 2 ! 2 ! 1 ! 1 ! 1 ! 24 |- ! TO WIN ! 37 ! 37 ! colspan=13| |} '''Source:''' {{cite web |title=The Electoral College Count for the Presidential Election of 1789 |url=https://washingtonpapers.org/resources/articles/the-electoral-count-for-the-presidential-election-of-1789/ |website=Washington Papers |publisher=University of Virginia |access-date=28 October 2022}} ====Failure of New York to appoint electors==== Control of the bicameral New York State Legislature was divided following ratification of the federal constitution, and lawmakers could not reach an agreement to appoint electors for the forthcoming presidential contest. Federalists, backed by the great landed families and the [[New York City|city]] commercial interests, were the largest faction in the Senate, the smaller of the two chambers for which roughly a quarter of the state's free white male population was eligible to vote; but in the House of Representatives, with its larger membership and electorate, Anti-federalists representing the middling interests held the majority. The fight to [[History of the United States Constitution#Ratification of the Constitution|ratify the United States Constitution]] was still fresh in the memories of the legislators, and the Anti-Federalists were resentful for having been forced by events to accept the constitution without amendments. Bills to govern the selection of electors were proposed in each house and rejected by the other, leading to an impasse. The deadlock still stood on January 7, 1789, the last day for electors to be chosen by the states, and New York thus failed to appoint the eight electors allocated to it by the constitution.{{cite book|title=The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, 1788-1790|author=Merrill Jensen, Gordon DenBoer|date=1976|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|pages=196–197}}{{cite journal |last1=Ratcliffe |first1=Donald |title=The Right to Vote and the Rise of Democracy, 1787-1828 |journal=Journal of the Early Republic |date=2013 |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=225–229|doi=10.1353/jer.2013.0033 |s2cid=145135025 }} === Maps === {{Gallery |width=200 |height=200 |noborder=yes|align=center |File:ElectoralCollege1789 (version 2).svg |Electoral College results (first vote) |File:ElectoralCollege1789 second vote.svg|Electoral College results (second vote) |File:1788–89 United States presidential election by county.svg|Map of presidential election results by county, shaded according to the vote share of the highest result for an elector of any given faction |File:1788-89 United States presidential election by electoral district.svg|Map of presidential election results by electoral district, shaded according to the vote share of the highest result for an elector of any given faction. Data for several Virginian electoral districts could not be found }} ==Electoral college selection== The Constitution, in [[Article Two of the United States Constitution#Section 1, Clause 2|Article II, Section 1]], provided that the state legislatures should decide the manner in which their Electors were chosen. State legislatures chose different methods:{{cite web|title=The Electoral Count for the Presidential Election of 1789 |work=The Papers of George Washington |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914141726/http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/presidential/electoral.html|archive-date=September 14, 2013|url=http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/presidential/electoral.html |access-date=May 4, 2005}} {{start electoral college selection}} {{electoral college selection row|method=electors appointed by state legislature |states=[[Connecticut]]
[[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
[[New Jersey]]
[[New York (state)|New York]]{{sup|(a)}}
[[South Carolina]]}} {{electoral college selection row|method=|states=[[Massachusetts]]}} {{electoral college selection row|method=each elector chosen by voters statewide; however, if no candidate wins a majority, state legislature appoints electors from top ten candidates|states=[[New Hampshire]]}} {{electoral college selection row|method=state divided into electoral districts, with one elector chosen per district by the voters of that district|states=[[Virginia]]{{sup|(b)}}
[[Delaware]]}} {{electoral college selection row|method=electors chosen at large by voters|states=[[Maryland]]
[[Pennsylvania]]}} {{electoral college selection row|method=state had not yet ratified the Constitution|states=[[North Carolina]]
[[Rhode Island]]}} {{end electoral college selection}} {{sup|(a)}} ''New York's legislature did not choose electors on time.''
{{sup|(b)}} ''One electoral district failed to choose an elector.'' ==See also== * [[1788–89 United States House of Representatives elections]] * [[1788–89 United States Senate elections]] * [[History of the United States (1789–1815)]] ==Notes== {{Notelist}} {{NoteFoot}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==Bibliography== {{refbegin|30em}} * Bowling, Kenneth R., and Donald R. Kennon. "A New Matrix for National Politics." Inventing Congress: Origins and Establishment of the First Federal Congress. Athens, O.: United States Capitol Historical Society by Ohio U, 1999. 110–37. Print. * [[Ron Chernow|Chernow, Ron]] (2004). "Alexander Hamilton". London, UK: Penguin Books. {{ISBN|978-1101200858}}. * [[Christopher Collier (historian)|Collier, Christopher]]. "Voting and American Democracy." The American People as Christian White Men of Property:Suffrage and Elections in Colonial and Early National America. N.p.: U of Connecticut, n.d, 1999. * {{cite book |title=The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, 1788–1790 |editor-last=DenBoer |editor-first=Gordon |year=1990 |publisher=[[University of Wisconsin Press]] |isbn=978-0-299-06690-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/documentaryhisto0002unse_n1m7 }} * Dinkin, Robert J. Voting in Revolutionary America: A Study of Elections in the Original Thirteen States, 1776–1789. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1982. * {{cite book|title=Founding the American Presidency |last=Ellis |first=Richard J. |year=1999 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-0-8476-9499-0 }} * {{cite book|title=[[John Adams (book)|John Adams]] |last=McCullough |first=David |author-link=David McCullough |year=1990 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=978-1-4165-7588-7}} * {{cite book |title=Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power |last=Meacham |first=Jon |author-link=Jon Meacham |year=2012 |publisher=[[Random House]] |isbn=978-1-4000-6766-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/thomasjeffersona00meac }} * Novotny, Patrick. ''The Parties in American Politics, 1789–2016''. * Paullin, Charles O. "The First Elections Under The Constitution." The Iowa Journal of History and Politics 2 (1904): 3-33. Web. February 20, 2017. * Shade, William G., and Ballard C. Campbell. "The Election of 1788-89." American Presidential Campaigns and Elections. Ed. Craig R. Coenen. Vol. 1. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference, 2003. 65–77. Print. {{refend}} ==External links== {{Commons category}} * [https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/elections/election1789.html Presidential Election of 1789: A Resource Guide] from the Library of Congress * [http://elections.lib.tufts.edu/ A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns, 1787–1825] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120203836/https://elections.lib.tufts.edu/ |date=January 20, 2022 }} * {{cite web|title=A Historical Analysis of the Electoral College |work=The Green Papers |url=http://www.thegreenpapers.com/Hx/ElectoralCollege.html |access-date=February 17, 2005}} * [http://www.countingthevotes.com/1789/ Election of 1789 in Counting the Votes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160525194027/http://www.countingthevotes.com/1789/ |date=May 25, 2016 }} {{George Washington}} {{John Adams}} {{USPresidentialElections}}{{Authority control}} {{1788 United States elections}} {{State results of the 1788–89 U.S. presidential election}} {{DEFAULTSORT:1788-89 United States presidential election}} [[Category:George Washington]] [[Category:John Adams]] [[Category:George Clinton]] [[Category:John Jay]] [[Category:John Hancock]] [[Category:1788–1789 United States presidential election]] [[Category:Presidency of George Washington]] [[Category:Single-candidate elections in the United States|Presidential election 1788]] [[Category:Confederation period]]