Jefferson Administrations - Changes in the U.S. Government
Changes in the U.S. Government
The Constitution originally did not distinguish between presidential and vice presidential candidates during elections. Each elector could vote for two candidates, with the person receiving the most votes becoming president, and the runner-up, vice president. This system resulted in a tie vote for the presidency between Jefferson and Aaron Burr in the 1800 election (See also, Jefferson Becomes President). Although they had promoted Burr as their vice presidential candidate to secure additional support for the party, the Republicans had always intended for Jefferson to be president. The fact that the Federalist-controlled Congress could have voted to make Burr, and not Jefferson, president was very disturbing. To address this problem, the Republicans devised the Twelfth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which provided for the electors to vote separately for the president and vice president. At...
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