The Presidential Election Of 1804
As the 1804 election approaches, Jefferson and the Democratic Republicans discard Aaron Burr as their Vice-Presidential candidate in favor of former General George Clinton, now sitting Governor of New York.
With Washington and Hamilton dead and Adams out of the picture, the Federalists begin what will be an on-going struggle to find a candidate capable of winning widespread popular support. In 1804 they choose Charles C. Pinckney, an aristocratic planter from Charleston, Revolutionary War General, influential pro-slavery delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Minister to France under Washington, and running mate of Adams in 1800.
In advance of the election of 1804, the states have ratified the 12th Amendment to the Constitution in order to distinguish between party candidates running for President vs. Vice President. This is accomplished by a simple change – having the electoral college shift from one combined vote for the offices, to two separate votes, one for President, the other for Vice President. Any “ties” will still be broken in Congress, the House voting on President, the Senate on Vice-President. The possibility of having a President from one party and a Vice-President from the other remains.
The election takes place between November 2 and December 5, 1804.
A total of 143,110 “popular votes” are cast, double the level recorded in 1800. Eligibility continues to be limited to white men owning various threshold levels of property – and only 11 of the 17 states factor popular votes into their process for choosing “presidential electors. (In the other six they are chosen exclusively by state legislators.)
Still, the 1804 election is the first where mainstream Americans begin to feel that their direct votes have a great deal to do with who will be President. This trend will grow over time, much to the chagrin of the 1787 convention delegates who felt that selection of the Executive was much too important to be left up to “popular passions.”
When the ballots are all in, Jefferson is re-elected by an overwhelming majority. He beats Charles C. Pinckney by a 73% to 27% margin in the popular vote, and by 162-14 in the electoral college. He carries 15 of the 17 states (losing only in Connecticut and Delaware), including prior Federalist strongholds across the North.