Remembering the first presidential election: the Constitution on trial

The presidential election of 1788, the first under the newly minted Constitution, was unusual and even unique in ways that 21st century Americans can scarcely imagine. For one, there was no campaigning. In the 18th 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...