A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign

A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign, published in 2007, was written by Edward J. Larson, also known for Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion (1997). The book documents the US presidential election of 1800, a highly-contested political drama, preceded by what is considered the first political campaign in American history. The front-runners in the contest were widely considered to be the then-current President John Adams and Vice President Thomas Jefferson. Although the two men were serving together in the Executive branch at the time of the election, they represented two opposing political parties: Adams was the leader of the Federalist Party, and Jefferson was the leader of the Republicans.

The two men, initially friends, had become intense rivals over the years, as their opinions on how to direct the young country diverged. Adams, like most Federalists, favored a strong central government run by highly-educated, elite politicians, serving as a check on the mob-like impulses of the general public. Jefferson, like the Republicans of the day, had a more optimistic view of the general public and saw the common man as the true source of virtue in any democracy.