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As a result of the surprising recent book, “Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics,” published in 2023 by U.T. history professor H. W. Brands, pointed out that extreme partisanship in U. S. politics has a 200+ year history. Although our first president George Washington thought that parties were unhealthy for our fledgling democracy, that was soon undercut by the developing factions of Hamilton-Adams, who favored a strong central government, and Jefferson- Madison, who favored state government and agriculture. Those factions rose to extreme lengths during the presidential electoral college contest between Adams, Burr, and Jefferson. Ultimately, Jefferson prevailed in the tied electoral college contest when the Federalist Hamilton belatedly decided to support Jefferson over Aaron Burr to win the presidency in 1801. That election, when Adams declined to attend the inauguration of Jefferson, resulted in almost a lifetime of animosity between Jefferson and Adams who had been respected colleagues during the revolution, and diplomats in Paris seeking a treaty between the U.S. and England to end the Revolutionary War. In the brief period prior to their same-day deaths on July 4, 1826, both Adams and Jefferson sought reconciliation with one another by exchanges of letters. In the last few years, extreme partisanship appears to threaten the stability of our country with some partisans saying that democracy is not necessary for the proper functioning of our republic. It behooves all citizens of all parties to respect democracy by accepting the wishes of voters. Only then can the foresight of our founders, admittedly not initially respectful of all races and genders, ensure that the rights of lawful voters will prevail
