I do not know how many times I have heard and said that we are living in unprecedented times, or that the events surrounding our lives are unprecedented. Of course, sometimes they feel as if they are. In the past 10 months we’ve witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic, protests, riots, and a presidential election resulting in a period of prolonged uncertainty, the events of January 6th, and this week’s inauguration of the 46th president, Joseph Biden, and his running-mate Kamala Harris, the first woman and the first person of African and South Asian descent to serve as vice president. Prior to Inauguration Day many worried for our nation’s future–and many still do.
I, however, find solace in the election of 1800. Thomas Jefferson, a Republican, defeated a sitting president, Federalist John Adams, in the election. Upset and angry with the outcome, Adams slipped out of Washington the night before the inauguration choosing not to attend the ceremony. Prior to Jefferson’s inauguration on March 4, 1801 (until 1937 we inaugurated the president in March) many wondered if there would be a peaceful transfer of power from one party to another.
Jefferson, after being sworn in, addressed the nation. “We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists,” he said. He later called the election the “Revolution of 1800.” Not because of events we typically characterize as revolutionary – war, death, and tumult. The election of 1800 was revolutionary because we peacefully passed power from one party to another without death, war, and tumult.
On January 20th our New York Military Academy cadets came together to watch the swearing in of our 46th president. The inauguration was a peaceful and patriotic event in which, as in 1801, the outgoing president did not attend. Adams, just like President Trump, did not leave wishing his predecessor or country ill will. For Adams it took time for his wounds to heal. Eventually he reconnected with Jefferson, his friend from their revolutionary days, and began to correspond. Hundreds of letters passed between them in the years that followed. “You and I ought not to die,” Adams wrote Jefferson, “before we have explained ourselves to each other.”
They were able to mend their ties, as I hope we will, too. Their story came to an end on July 4th, 1826 when Adams, 90 and Jefferson, 83 both died on the 50th Anniversary of America’s independence. John Adams last words were “Thomas Jefferson survives.” He was wrong, Jefferson had died, but America survived.
The past ten months have tested us as a nation and 2020/2021 may seem unprecedented. The election of 1800 teaches us that, given our history, it is not. Optimistically, I am hopeful, the outcome for us will be just the same as for Jefferson and Adams– friendship.
-Christine C. McDonald, Dean of Academics
