In a bizarre Constitutional quirk, presidential candidate Thomas Jefferson won the vice presidency. As a result, he had the unenviable position of serving in the opposition administration. As vice president, Jefferson sought to bring order to the Senate by creating rules to govern the body. As opposition leader, he worked to undermine President Adams. Jefferson’s mixed vice presidential legacy shows both a visionary and renegade political opportunist.
Upon election to the vice presidency, Jefferson found himself in charge of the U.S. Senate. His predecessor, John Adams, tried to establish control of the body himself, but managed to aggravate the senators. Jefferson found himself in a similar predicament, but was less confrontational than Adams. The new vice president embarked on a research project to determine how best to preside over the raucous body.
Jefferson studied British parliamentary procedure and served on a committee to develop rules of order for the Continental Congress. Eventually, he wrote A Manual of Parliamentary Practice to govern the congress. The congress recognized the need for order and accepted Jefferson’s manual. The new vice president’s personality and scholarly approach won the congress over where Adams’ more disruptive personality could not. Jefferson’s rules of order survive to this day.
While performing admirably in his congressional leadership role, Jefferson also served as leader of the opposition party. The Constitution did not allow for political parties and the man who received the second most electoral votes won the vice presidency regardless of party. The Federalist Adams won 71 electoral votes to the Democratic-Republican Jefferson’s 68. Federalist vice presidential candidate Thomas Pickney won 59 electoral votes to finish third. As a result of this quirk, one party won the presidency while the other received the vice presidency.
Naturally, party politics interfered with the relationship between Adams and Jefferson. As president, Adams faced a deteriorating international situation with France, which led to the Quasi-War. Adams worked to maintain the peace and keep America neutral in the French Revolutionary wars raging across Europe. Jefferson worked to undermine Adams.
During the Quasi-War, Jefferson inadvertently encouraged predations upon American shipping. He counseled the French government to drag out negotiations with Adams’ envoys as battles raged at sea. The revolutionary government followed Jefferson’s advice and the Quasi-War lasted until the end of Adams’ presidency. Then, the Jeffersonians attacked Adams for being a warmonger. In response, Adams released diplomatic communications, the XYZ papers, demonstrating French intransigence undercutting the Democratic-Republicans position.
While dispensing advice to foreign governments, Jefferson went as far as suggesting France invade England while attacking Adams’ attempts to shore up American defenses against a European attack. While committing borderline treason, Jefferson and his comrades rallied against the Alien and Sedition Acts. President Adams signed the acts into law after struggling with the decision. Essentially, the acts allowed the president to curtail free speech and detain or deport dangerous foreigners. The president used the acts against Democratic-Republican newspapermen.
The vice president and his chief lieutenant, James Madison, responded with the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. These papers declared that states could nullify acts of the federal government and had the right to interpose themselves between the federal government and its citizens. Jefferson scrapped a more controversial point declaring the right of secession. This would have been overt treason. However, he did call for revolution when he spoke of the federal government driving the states to blood. The Alien and Sedition Acts eventually expired and disappeared into history. However, Madison and Jefferson’s clarion calls for nullification helped set the ideological foundation for the civil war.
Vice President Jefferson won the White House following the dirtiest campaign in presidential history. Adams peace with Napoleon came too late to help the president’s re-election effort. The 3/5th clause swung extra electoral votes to the south and Jefferson. Adams refused to speak to Jefferson for years after the fact. His former friend was now a bitter ideological enemy and potential traitor.
Thomas Jefferson’s vice presidency served two purposes. First, it brought codified rules of order to the congress. Second, it served Jefferson’s political ends and bordered on treason. The vice president worked to undermine the president’s peace efforts with France and even threatened to disband the Union itself. In the end, Adams lost his bid for a second term to his vice president. Ironically, many consider Jefferson a great president and functional vice president while historians try to fit Adams with a strait jacket for his personality quirks, which kept the peace despite Jefferson's meddling.
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