VIEWPOINT | First presidential election doubled as trial for U.S. Constitution

Guest column by David Adler, The Alturas Institute

The presidential election of 1788, the first under the newly minted Constitution, was unusual and even unique in ways that 21^st Century Americans can scarcely imagine. For one, there was no campaigning. In the 18^th Century, it was an unwritten rule that any display of ambition would be unseemly.

For another, George Washington, widely viewed as Father of His Country was, for all practical purposes, anointed by his fellow citizens. As it happened, he was elected unanimously by the Electoral College, a feat that he would achieve, again, in the election of 1792.

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