Second President: Charles C. Pinckney (Federalist - South Carolina)
1797 - 1805
Vice President: Thomas Johnson (F-MD)
1796 Candidates: Pinckney, Johnson, James Madison (DR-VA), Nathaniel Macon (DR-NC)
1800 Candidates: Pinckney, Johnson, Madison, Samuel Smith (DR-MD)
Speaker of the House: Henry Knox (F-MA) 1797 - 1802, Caleb Strong (F-MA) 1802 -
Prominent Senators: John Adams (F-MA), Thomas Pinckney (F-SC), Samuel Smith (DR-MD), Joseph I. Anderson (DR-TN)
Sec. of State: John Jay (F-NY)
Sec. of Treasury: John Rutledge (F-SC) 1797 - 1799, Jonathan Trumbull (F-CT) 1799 - 1803, Alexander Hamilton (F-NY) 1803 - 1805
Sec. of War: Charles Lee (F-VA)
Postmaster Gen.: Timothy Pickering (F-MA) 1797 - 1801
Sec. of Navy: Samuel Dexter (F-MA) 1801 - 1805
Supreme Court, 1797: John Blair (CJ), George Clinton, James Wilson, Benjamin Stoddert, Pierce Butler, Joseph Varnum
1798: Wilson died, replaced by Robert Morris
1800: Blair died, replaced by Philip Schuyler (CJ)
1804: Schuyler died, replaced by Abraham Baldwin. Clinton becomes CJ
Supreme Court, 1805: George Clinton (CJ), Benjamin Stoddert, Pierce Butler, Joseph Varnum, Robert Morris, Abraham Baldwin
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Charles Cotesworth Pinckney was the first partisanly-elected President, as he defeated James Madison and Nathaniel Macon, the representatives of the so-called "Democratic-Republican" group in the election of 1796. The Federalists made great strides in Pinckney's presidency, promoting tariffs, establishing a National Bank, and continuing Washington's military reforms. Pinckney and John Jay, his Secretary of State, restored positive relations with both Britain and France, a major coup for the administration.
Pinckney defeated Madison again in 1800, with Johnson returning to the Vice Presidency. In the Senate, John Adams and Thomas Pinckney continued to work hard in support of Federalist policies, though Samuel Smith and Joseph Anderson came to lead a strong bloc in opposition. Meanwhile, Caleb Strong took over from the retiring Henry Knox as Speaker of the House, as the party retained its powerful grip over the federal government that would continue for the following decades.
The popular Pinckney upheld the Langdon practice of only serving two terms in office. While some people expected the leadership of the Federalists to pass to his brother Thomas, there was opposition to the idea of a dynasty, and especially one within a powerful Southern planter family. Thomas Johnson, the Vice President, a well-respected senior figure in the party, emerged as the leading candidate to take over the party mantle, and he was endorsed by Thomas Pinckney at the meeting of the party's congressional delegation to decide the 1804 nomination.
Pinckney was extremely well regarded upon leaving office, with it being widely understood that he would have won re-election had he chosen to run again. While, in more modern times, he has become a controversial figure due to his slaveholding, and his role in cementing the dominance of the planter aristocracy in South Carolina, he is still generally remembered as one of the nation's greatest presidents.