Vice President John Adams Certifies His and President Washington’s Votes for the 1792 Presidential Election

In 1789 George Washington was elected the first president of the United States, and Adams became the first vice president. One of the duties of the vice president is to preside as president of the U.S. Senate, and to cast tie-breaking votes. Adams did so on a variety of issues, supporting U.S. neutrality in the new war between France and Britain and the controversial financial measures proposed by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton. Washington, who had originally wanted to retire after his first presidential term, decided to run again at the last minute in order to try to halt the rise of political partisanship and parties. The Democratic-Republican opposition was aware of Washington’s obvious and undiminished popularity, and being at the time outnumbered by the Federalists, didn’t oppose his reelection. Adams, on the other hand, had alienated many of the Jeffersonians and there was a concerted behind-the-scenes campaign to replace him with George Clinton of New York. At the election in November, 1792, presidential electors were chosen from the fifteen states; some were appointed by their state legislatures, others elected by popular vote. On December 5, the electors cast their ballots for both president and vice president, as required by law. These were formally transmitted to Vice President Adams in his capacity as President of the U.S. Senate, for counting. This is the original, official acknowledgement that Adams had received the ballots of the State of Vermont, which was a new state and voting in its first presidential election.

Lot Hall was a Revolutionary War hero who in the 1780s served as Secretary Pro Tempore of the Vermont Council of State. In the 1790s he was a member of the Vermont Assembly and was selected as one of three Vermont presidential electors. He and his two colleagues cast their votes for Washington and Adams.

Autograph Document Signed, Philadelphia, January 1, 1793, to Hall. “Received of Lot Hall, Esq. a Packet certified by the Electors of Vermont to contain a List of their Votes for President and Vice President of the United States. John Adams, President of the Senate of the United States.”

In February, 1793, the electoral vote was tabulated by Congress. Once again George Washington received a vote on every elector’s ballot, giving him 132 votes and his second unanimous presidential election. Adams received 77 votes, including all of Vermont’s ballots, while his opponent Clinton got 50.

An important memento of an election that made George Washington president and John Adams vice president.