<P> With incumbent President George Washington having refused a third term in office, the 1796 election became the first U.S. presidential election in which political parties competed for the presidency . The Federalists coalesced behind Adams and the Democratic - Republicans supported Jefferson, but each party ran multiple candidates . Under the electoral rules in place prior to the 1804 ratification of the Twelfth Amendment, the members of the Electoral College each cast two votes, with no distinction made between electoral votes for president and electoral votes for vice president . In order to be elected president, the winning candidate had to win the votes of a majority of electors; should no individual win a majority, the House of Representatives would hold a contingent election . </P> <P> The campaign was an acrimonious one, with Federalists attempting to identify the Democratic - Republicans with the violence of the French Revolution and the Democratic - Republicans accusing the Federalists of favoring monarchism and aristocracy . Republicans sought to associate Adams with the policies developed by fellow Federalist Alexander Hamilton during the Washington administration, which they declaimed were too much in favor of Great Britain and a centralized national government . In foreign policy, Republicans denounced the Federalists over the Jay Treaty, which had established a temporary peace with Great Britain . Federalists attacked Jefferson's moral character, alleging he was an atheist and that he had been a coward during the American Revolutionary War . Adams supporters also accused Jefferson of being too pro-France; the accusation was underscored when the French ambassador embarrassed the Republicans by publicly backing Jefferson and attacking the Federalists right before the election . Despite the vituperation between their respective camps, neither Adams nor Jefferson actively campaigned for the presidency . </P> <P> Adams was elected president with 71 electoral votes, one more than was needed for a majority . Adams won by sweeping the electoral votes of New England and winning votes from several other states, especially the states of the Mid-Atlantic region . Jefferson received 68 electoral votes and was elected vice president . Former Governor Thomas Pinckney of South Carolina, a Federalist, finished with 59 electoral votes, while Senator Aaron Burr, a Democratic - Republican from New York, won 30 electoral votes . The remaining 48 electoral votes were dispersed among nine other candidates . Reflecting the evolving nature of both parties, several electors cast one vote for a Federalist candidate and one vote for a Democratic - Republican candidate . The election marked the formation of the First Party System, and established a rivalry between Federalist New England and Democratic - Republican South, with the middle states holding the balance of power . </P> <P> With the retirement of Washington after two terms, both parties sought the presidency for the first time . Before the ratification of the 12th Amendment in 1804, each elector was to vote for two persons, but was not able to indicate which vote was for president and which was for vice president . Instead, the recipient of the most electoral votes would become president and the runner - up vice president . As a result, both parties ran multiple candidates for president, in hopes of keeping one of their opponents from being the runner - up . These candidates were the equivalent of modern - day running mates, but under the law they were all candidates for president . Thus, both Adams and Jefferson were technically opposed by several members of their own parties . The plan was for one of the electors to cast a vote for the main party nominee (Adams or Jefferson) and a candidate besides the primary running mate, thus ensuring that the main nominee would have one more vote than his running mate . </P>

Who became vice president as a result of the 1796 election