Founding Liberal, Founding Conservative
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By Gordon S. Wood,
A historic friendship offers a lesson in overcoming divisions
During the first decade of our nation’s history, the presidential contests of 1796 and 1800 were as clearly and coherently expressive of conservatism and liberalism as any elections since. The conservative and liberal parties—the Federalists and the Jeffersonian Republicans, respectively—were led by two distinguished patriots, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, and the partisan campaigns waged by their parties were bitter and scurrilous. Adams and Jefferson started as friends, grew apart over their differences and then reconciled—demonstrating to their countrymen that the most extreme partisan passions could be moderated. That lesson is worth remembering today.
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