In 2016, the presidential election was brutal: the two candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton spoke negatively about each other every chance they got and it still remains undetermined whether or not one or both candidates bribed and cheated their way to the top of their party. Additionally, the battle to decide the Democratic party’s nominee was tight, as Bernie Sanders was extremely popular with the young, liberal voters. In a way, 2016’s election bears many similarities to the Election of 1800. They both began with three potential winners: a popular upstart who was attempting to make his presidential debut, an occasionally-unconstitutional lawyer who had had already had an influential voice in the executive branch, and a racist, loud-mouthed, …show more content…
According to ushistory.org, “The election of 1800 between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson was an emotional and hard-fought campaign.” Likewise, 720towin.com states that, “In the United States Presidential election of 1800, sometimes referred to as the "Revolution of 1800," Vice President Thomas Jefferson defeated incumbent president John Adams.” Despite common consensus, the election was never a fight between two different party members, Jefferson and Adams, but instead between two Democratic-Republicans: Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. In 1800, there was no national convention to decide a party’s single nominee. Parties sent in two delegates, since the Constitution ruled, ironically enough, until after the election of 1800, that the candidate to receive the second most amount of votes was awarded the position of vice-president. The election resulted in 64 electoral votes for Federalist, Charles Pinckney, 65 for John Adams, and a tie result of 73 votes for Democratic-Republicans, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, therefore pitting the two Democratic-Republicans against each other in a race to be president. As intended by the Constitution, the House of Representatives was chosen to break the tie. During the House’s decision-making process, Alexander Hamilton wrote an endorsement letter for Jefferson: “In a choice of Evils let them take the least – Jefferson is in every view less dangerous than Burr.” To Burr’s dismay, the majorly-Federalist House of Representatives, with aid from Hamilton’s opinion, ultimately selected Thomas Jefferson to be the third president of the United