In 1796, Washington having refused to be a
candidate for a third term, party managers in Congress agreed
informally on Adams and Jefferson as the candidates of the
Federalist and the Republican parties respectively. A caucus of
Federalist Congressmen, in 1800, nominated Adams and Pinckney, and
a caucus of Republican Congressmen nominated Jefferson and Burr,
for the offices of President and Vice-President. The Republican
members of Congress continued to hold a regular caucus and thus to
direct the votes of the party electors until 1824. In that year
William H. Crawford, the last Congressional nominee, was defeated.
There was opposition to the Congressional caucus from the
beginning, for such a method was regarded as undemocratic. In 1824
and 1828 the several State legislatures put forward their favorites
for the office of President.
Development of National Conventions.--As early as 1812, De
Witt Clinton was nominated as the candidate of the Federalists in a
convention held in New York City, made up of seventy delegates, who
represented eleven States.
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