The United States presidential election of 1796 was the 3rd quadrennial presidential election. It was held from Friday, November 4 to Wednesday, December 7, 1796. It was the first contested American presidential election and the only one in which a president and vice president were elected from opposing tickets. Federalist John Adams defeated Republican Thomas Jefferson. Jeffersonians attacked the economic and foreign policies developed by Alexander Hamilton during the Washington administration as too much in favor of Great Britain and a centralized national government. Adams supporters attacked Jefferson's moral character.