Jefferson Victorious

On February 17, 1801, presidential candidate Thomas Jefferson won support of a majority of congressional Representatives displacing incumbent John Adams. Jefferson's triumph brought an end to one of the most acrimonious presidential campaigns in U.S. history and resolved a serious Constitutional crisis.

Thomas Jefferson, photograph of a painting in U.S. Capitol, Theodor Horydczak, photographer, circa 1920-1950.
Washington as It Was, 1923-1959

Republican Jefferson defeated Federalist John Adams by a margin of 73 to 65 electoral votes. When presidential electors cast their votes, however, they failed to distinguish between the office of president and vice president on their ballots. Jefferson and his running mate Aaron Burr each received 73 votes. With the votes tied, the election was thrown to the House of Representatives. There, each state voted as a unit to decide the election.

Still dominated by Federalists, the sitting Congress loathed to vote for Jefferson—their partisan nemesis. For six days, Jefferson and Burr essentially ran against each other in the House. Votes were tallied over thirty times, yet neither man captured the necessary majority of nine states. Eventually, a small group of Federalists, led by James A. Bayard of Delaware, reasoned that a peaceful transfer of power required the majority choose the President, and a deal was struck in Jefferson's favor.

Jefferson was inaugurated on March 4, 1801. Adopted in 1804, the Twelfth Amendment, to the Constitution provides that electors "name in their ballots the person voted for as president, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as vice president."

Just three years after his vice-presidential inauguration, Aaron Burr shot and fatally wounded Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Hamilton, a longtime political antagonist of Burr, played a key role in breaking the congressional stalemate in Jefferson's favor.

Capitol Building, Richmond, Virginia, designed by Thomas Jefferson, photographed 1909.
Taking the Long View, 1851-1991

• In 1807, Thomas Jefferson was served a subpoena to testify in defense of Burr, charged with treason as a consequence of additional misadventures. Search the collection Words and Deeds in American History on Jefferson to locate this document and others including Jefferson's drawing of a macaroni machine and instructions for making pasta
• Today in History features related to Thomas Jefferson and his presidency include Jefferson's birthday, the Louisiana Purchase, and the former president's offer to sell his library to Congress.
• Learn how Jefferson's personal vision shaped the Library of Congress in Jefferson's Legacy: A Brief History of the Library of Congress, an online essay by John Y. Cole, Director of the Library's Center for the Book.
• Search the American Memory pictorial collections on Monticello and University of Virginia to view many photographs of Jefferson's Virginia home and the university he founded in Charlottesville, Virginia.