<P> His policy echoed the arguments put forth by President George Washington in his farewell address in 1796 and his warnings against political "factions". </P> <P> The method Monroe employed to deflate the Federalist Party was through neglect: they were denied all political patronage, administrative appointments and federal support of any kind . Monroe pursued this policy dispassionately and without any desire to persecute the Federalists: his purpose was simply to extirpate them from positions of political power, both Federal and State, especially in its New England strongholds . He understood that any expression of official approval would only encourage hope for a Federalist revival, and this he could not abide . </P> <P> In his public pronouncements, Monroe was careful to avoid any comments that could be interpreted as politically partisan . Not only did he never attack the Federalist party, he made no direct reference to them in his speeches whatsoever: officially, they ceased to exist . In his private encounters with Federalists, he made favorable impressions, committing himself to nothing, yet eliciting good feelings, and reassuring them that his policies would be generous, as he proceeded quietly with a program of "de-Federalization". </P> <P> So thoroughly had Monroe reduced party politics that he essentially ran unopposed in the 1820 presidential election . The Federalists ran no candidate to oppose him, running only a vice-presidential candidate, Richard Stockton . Monroe and his vice president Daniel D. Tompkins would have won reelection unanimously through the electoral college, had there not been a handful of faithless electors; one presidential elector cast his vote for John Quincy Adams, while a handful of electors (mostly former Federalists) cast votes for a number of Federalist candidates for Vice President . It would be the last presidential election in which a candidate would run essentially unopposed . </P>

Why was it the era of good feelings