You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington

by Alexis Coe

The first presidential election in the United States was its least dramatic. There were no debates and no campaigns; when the Senate and the House of Representatives met for the first time on April 6, 1789, in New York to tally the votes, there were no surprises. George Washington appeared on every ballot and received sixty-nine electoral votes to secure the presidency. He easily beat John Adams, who garnered thirty-four votes, the top total among ten other also-rans. Second place gave the vice presidency to Adams. (By 1804, the Twelfth Amendment required that electors name both a president and a vice president on their ballots.) The Virginian and the New Englander made for an odd couple. Washington was tall and athletic, whereas the much shorter Adams had already earned the nickname “His Rotundity.” People either loved or grudgingly respected Washington, whereas Adams was a more divisive figure.