May 6, 2013The First Presidential Contest: The Election of 1796 and the Beginnings of American Democracy2014 Mount Vernon George Washington Book Prize Finalist This is the first study in half a century to focus on the election of 1796. At first glance, the first presidential contest looks unfamiliar—parties were frowned upon, there was no national vote, and the candidates did not even participate (the political mores of the day forbade […]