October 24

"The second office of this government is honorable and easy, the first is but splendid misery."

Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President, 1801-1809. From a letter written to Elbridge Gerry Philadelphia, May 13, 1797. After George Washington declined to run for a third term, Jefferson came in second place to John Adams for President in the election of 1796, which, at that time, made him Vice-President. Gerry, a fellow signer of the Declaration of Independence, was to become the namesake for the term, Gerrymandering, where voting boundaries were redrawn for the political advantage of one party over another. In 1793, Jefferson had returned to farming and his scientific pursuits after resigning as the first Secretary of State over disputes with Alexander Hamilton in regards to how much power the federal government should have over the states. Jefferson believed the states should have more power than the Federal government, while Hamilton supported a stronger Federal government, as did John Adams. To Jefferson, "federalists in high government posts were "timid men who prefer the calm of despotism to the boisterous sea of liberty." (From a letter written in April 1796 to the Italian intellectual Philip Mazzei.) Thus, although Adams and Jefferson were great allies in favoring independence from Great Britain, they came to hold differing views as to how the new nation should be governed. As a result, when Jefferson was elected as Vice President, he did not serve as much of an aide to Adams, but instead concentrated on his duties of presiding over the senate, the role prescribed in the constitution. He was content to let Adams contend with the domestic and international conflicts of the time. Adams would not be a popular President, who in an attempt to prevent rebellion, encouraged laws to be passed which limited freedom of speech and of the press. Adams also had to deal with renewed conflicts with Great Britain and became embroiled in bribery scandals with France, our supposed ally. As Adams' popularity began to diminish, Jefferson, who did not view himself as part of the administration, began to position himself to become the the third President. It is debatable as to whether or not Jefferson's Vice-Presidential conduct was honorable, but his political moves did propel him in 1801 to the office of the President and its splendid misery.