The election of 2008 is sneaking up on us very quickly. In about a week, we will know which candidate has the difficult job of leading this country ahead and taking over during some very murky times.
Many are calling this election one of the most important in the history of the nation. When I think of important elections, I can think of several in American history. However, one of the more interesting (and important) that never gets as much attention happened in 1800 between Adams and Jefferson.
The election year of 1800 signaled the birth of political parties which can only mean one thing...a nasty campaign between Federalists and Republicans. You think things have gotten nasty between McCain and Obama? They've got nothing on the candidates in 1800...
Things got ugly fast. Jefferson's camp accused President Adams of having a "hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman."
In return, Adams' men called Vice President Jefferson "a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father."
As the slurs piled on, Adams was labeled a fool, a hypocrite, a criminal, and a tyrant, while Jefferson was branded a weakling, an atheist, a libertine, and a coward.
Even Martha Washington succumbed to the propaganda, telling a clergyman that Jefferson was "one of the most detestable of mankind."
To read the full CNN article, click below...
