One of the most controversial elections ever

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	• Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800 (Pivotal Moments in American History) John Ferling Oxford University Press, USA, 2005 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 36 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Well rounded work

I picked this up at a discount book store to brush up on my early American history. As I read it, I was surprised I had never heard of Ferling before now. He is concise and well written. His insight into the election illustrates the complexities of our electoral process showing it not to be perfect, but better than most in the world. I have a new sense of respect for Adams now, before I was not too fond of him. I am a big fan of Hamilton, who is portrayed in a negative manner at times. In retrospect it was accurate as Hamilton, like all other politicians then and now were/are opportunists. I look forward to more Ferling works and am glad I found this piece.

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Fun to read

This is a splendid book that not only covers the personalities and the election, it breathes enough life into it to make it all fun. This is a breeze to read yet very informative.

I will be reading more books by Ferling.

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One of the most controversial elections ever

Among the fifty-plus presidential elections in the United States, there have been four that stand out as particularly controversial. We're all familiar (and have our opinions about) the 2000 election. The 1876 election also involved disputed votes, and while the winner (Hayes) did not have the popular vote, he won in a deal that also ended Reconstruction. In 1824, John Quincy Adams had neither the popular nor electoral majority but won through a seeming corrupt bargain in the House of Representatives; the consequences of this bargain would tarnish Adams's presidency and help Andrew Jackson (who had the plurality of popular and electoral votes in 1824) win in 1828. These three may have had their impacts, but perhaps none were as important as the first controversial election in 1800.

John Ferling discusses this election in his book Adams vs. Jefferson (subtitled The Tumultuous Election of 1800). Kind of like the movie Titanic, the big event doesn't really happen until 2/3 of the way into the book. Unlike Titanic, however, this story is filled with enough interesting characters that you don't need to wait for the climax. The two leads in this book are the title characters. Adams is the unappreciated one and he knows it; while Washington, Jefferson, Franklin and Hamilton get the lion's share of acknowledgement for their roles, Adams would be pushed aside. While the others would appear on coins and cash, Adams would be relatively unmemorialized (although that has changed in recent years).

Jefferson, on the other hand, is the high-minded but often duplicitous friend of Adams and a founder of the Republican party (which would eventually evolve into the modern Democratic Party). Adams was a Federalist, albeit a moderate one, but even that was too much for Jefferson and their relationship would get antagonistic especially after 1796, when Adams was elected president and Jefferson vice-president. For Adams, it would be a rough term in office, besieged by Jefferson on one side and Hamilton on the other.

1800 would be a rematch between the two, but the real fireworks would actually occur later. Due to the electoral process at the time, Jefferson and fellow Republican Aaron Burr tied in the electoral college, with Adams a close third. If not for the three-fifths rule in the Constitution at the time (designed to count slaves as three-fifths of a person when determining representation and electoral votes), Adams - the only non-slave holder among the four major candidates (Charles Pinckney being the fourth) - would have won.

With a tie, the election would be decided in the House of Representatives, where views were decidedly mixed as to who should win (although it spoils nothing to give away that Jefferson would be the winner). The results of this election? Among other things, it led to a new Constitutional amendment to avoid these sorts of ties in the future. It also represented the beginning of the end for the Federalists, who would never have much of a shot at the presidency again. What is most significant, however, is the end result: the peaceful transition in leadership from one party to its rival.

This is the second book I've read by Ferling. The first, a biography of John Adams, was wonderful. This one is good but not great; although only 200 pages long, it is an occasionally slow read. There is also the occasional bit of anachronistic language, such as when Ferling refers to Federalist bloggers. Adams vs. Jefferson offers little to those already familiar with the era, but if you haven't really read up on this period, it is a worthwhile book to pick up.

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Overall a Great Read

Overall Ferling gives a good read. The book is detailed in many areas and does provide a chronology of events very well. Through his establishment of the characters of the men involved, the reader does almost forget he is reading a historical evaluation and not an historical novel (this may be good or bad depending on the reader, but one can not feel a bit emotional while reading the epilogue and the eventual reestalished friendship between Adams and Jefferson).

However like most books that deal with these subjects one can see the biases begin to seep through. Hamilton: Bad Guy. Adams: The Old Blowhard. Washington: Hamilton's puppet. Burr: The Secondary Character. Jefferon: The Hero. Ferling falls into the same traps which at times does hurt the book. He gives credit to Jefferson in many areas where he should have been questioning Jefferson's actions and words (the lack of any indepth evaluation of Jefferson and slavery is a bit daunting). Though Ferling does a good job at spelling out the changes brought about with the election of 1800 in the epilogue, he does in the end fail to address key points (Jefferson's Barbary War, a mere mention of the LA Purchase, no mention at all of Jefferson's embargo, and most importantly the slavery issue...which is virtually ignored, except a pretty interesting discussion of Sally Hemming)and maybe more depth with the chapter could have spelled out and defended Ferling's thesis a bit clearer.

Other areas of criticism for this book have to come from the 10 chapters devoted to events pre-1800, and only, what can be considered an overview, of the election and the subsequent House battle. It is here where depth is needed and at times does not seem to be provided. Another issue is his paragraph devoted to the 3/5's Clause, something I felt he should have expanded on (maybe even devoting a short chapter to it). And, like most reviews, I agree with the poor editing of the book. Long paragraphs with 3-4 different issues being explained, when they should have been broken down to lone paragraph.

Overall it is a good book and topic worth reading about. It's easy to read and it does flow very well.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

It was a contest of titans: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two heroes of the Revolutionary era, once intimate friends, now icy antagonists locked in a fierce battle for the future of the United States. The election of 1800 was a thunderous clash of a campaign that climaxed in a deadlock in the Electoral College and led to a crisis in which the young republic teetered on the edge of collapse.
Adams vs. Jefferson is the gripping account of a turning point in American history, a dramatic struggle between two parties with profoundly different visions of how the nation should be governed. The Federalists, led by Adams, were conservatives who favored a strong central government. The Republicans, led by Jefferson, were more egalitarian and believed that the Federalists had betrayed the Revolution of 1776 and were backsliding toward monarchy. The campaign itself was a barroom brawl every bit as ruthless as any modern contest, with mud-slinging, scare tactics, and backstabbing. The low point came when Alexander Hamilton printed a devastating attack on Adams, the head of his own party, in "fifty-four pages of unremitting vilification." The stalemate in the Electoral College dragged on through dozens of ballots. Tensions ran so high that the Republicans threatened civil war if the Federalists denied Jefferson the presidency. Finally a secret deal that changed a single vote gave Jefferson the White House. A devastated Adams left Washington before dawn on Inauguration Day, too embittered even to shake his rival's hand.
With magisterial command, Ferling brings to life both the outsize personalities and the hotly contested political questions at stake. He shows not just why this moment was a milestone in U.S. history, but how strongly the issues--and the passions--of 1800 resonate with our own time.

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