ABSTRACT
Levi Lincoln arrived in Washington in February 1801 just in time to participate in the final vote of the contested presidential election between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. On the thirty-sixth ballot that finally elected Jefferson, only four states remained steadfast in their support of Burr: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. Boston's Calvinist Standing Order also embraced Federalist politics. During the golden days of the Washington and Adams administrations, Calvinist clergy felt cautiously optimistic about the nation's future. Fearing that the Jeffersonians would hijack the press and “be read and approved by multitudes, as long as there are base and unhallowed passions in human nature to be gratified by them,” Boston's Fisher Ames acquired the New England Palladium to be the voice of Massachusetts Federalism. Levi believed that the republican patriarch's most important duty was to raise the next generation of virtuous and honorable citizens who would lead the nation and ensure its survival.
