Tuesday, Nov. 04, 2008

1800: Power Shift

For the first time, U.S. presidential power switched hands from one political party to another, and the republic not only survived but thrived. The campaigns of President Adams, a Federalist, and Democrat-Republican Jefferson, the sitting Vice President and a states' rights advocate, introduced vitriol to presidential politics. But at his Inaugural, Jefferson set a precedent for postelection unity by famously declaring "We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists." Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase doubled America's landmass, giving the country a glimpse of the Manifest Destiny to come.