ABSTRACT
Although it was known within government circles by the summer of 1796 that George Washington would retire after his second term, the president did not formally announce his return to private life until September. All the while the issue of succession had been in the air. Would the choice fallon the vice president as heir apparent, or would Jefferson, Burr, or even Pinckney succeed? No candidate campaigned, but behind the scenes, intense maneuvering for power went on. By November, when Adams left Massachusetts to preside over the new session of the Senate, the election was within grasp, though elusive. By January it was settled, though the vote would be close. 2 Abigail Adams would succeed Martha Washington as the second First Lady of the land, and she wrote to her husband that she could not travel to Philadelphia in February to be present at the March 4 inauguration or to set the stage socially.
