United States Presidential Election of 1789
George Washington elected unanimously with 69 electoral votes and no popular contest.
Overview
The first presidential election under the new Constitution was an electoral college affair with no campaigning. Electors were chosen by legislatures in ten states, as New York failed to appoint and North Carolina and Rhode Island had not yet ratified. Every elector voted for Washington, the only unanimous election along with 1792, and John Adams, finishing second with 34 votes, became vice president. The election set precedents of a silent, noncompetitive selection for the revolutionary hero that made the presidency legitimate before party politics arrived.
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