Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
The Election of 1800
Now Jefferson was certain
That he was gonna win,
He was popular and handsome
But also a Jacobin…
Burr was shrewd and silent,
A man of different style,
They both got equal votes
And tied up for a while.
If it cannot be my husband,
Mrs. Adams said, then sure—
I do not want that Jefferson,
I’d cast my vote for Burr.
The House kept on a-voting
Through the cold and snowy nights,
Thirty-six long ballots
Till they set the matter right.
Jefferson took the presidency,
Burr got the second chair…
But that old system showed its cracks
And left a problem there.
So they wrote a new amendment
In eighteen hundred four,
Separate votes for President
And for the Vice once more.
Now the runner-up no longer
Gets the second-highest place…
And that’s the story of the tie
That changed the system’s face.
Copyright 2026 Aya KatZ
The Election of 1800
Now Jefferson was certain
That he was gonna win,
He was popular and handsome
But also a Jacobin…
Burr was shrewd and silent,
A man of different style,
They both got equal votes
And tied up for a while.
If it cannot be my husband,
Mrs. Adams said, then sure—
I do not want that Jefferson,
I’d cast my vote for Burr.
The House kept on a-voting
Through the cold and snowy nights,
Thirty-six long ballots
Till they set the matter right.
Jefferson took the presidency,
Burr got the second chair…
But that old system showed its cracks
And left a problem there.
So they wrote a new amendment
In eighteen hundred four,
Separate votes for President
And for the Vice once more.
Now the runner-up no longer
Gets the second-highest place…
And that’s the story of the tie
That changed the system’s face.
Copyright 2026 Aya KatZ
