Although Washington was sympathetic to the philosophy of the Federalists he was essentially a president without party. The election of 1796, however, pitted the Federalist Adams against the Republican Jefferson. Adams won the presidency and for the only time in American history the vice-president, Jefferson, represented a different party. Jefferson openly opposed the policies of Adams so strongly that the Federalists passed the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798 as an attempt to control criticism of government. The backlash from this law swept Jefferson and the Republicans into office in 1800 and destroyed the Federalist Party forever.
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