Editing Vice President of the United States (section)

===Early vice presidents and Twelfth Amendment===
[[File:John Adams 1800 to 1815 Portrait (4x5 cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|250px|[[John Adams]], the first vice president of the United States]]

The first two vice presidents, [[John Adams]] and [[Thomas Jefferson]], both of whom gained the office by virtue of being runners-up in presidential contests, presided regularly over Senate proceedings and did much to shape the role of Senate president.<ref name=VP-PS/><ref>{{cite web| last=Schramm| first=Peter W.| title=Essays on Article I: Vice President as Presiding Officer| url=https://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/1/essays/15/vice-president-as-presiding-officer| work=Heritage Guide to the Constitution| publisher=The Heritage Foundation| access-date=July 27, 2018| archive-date=August 22, 2020| archive-url=https://archive.today/20200822232208/https://www.heritage.org/constitution/%23!/amendments/8/essays/161/cruel-and-unusual-punishment#!/articles/1/essays/15/vice-president-as-presiding-officer| url-status=live}}</ref> Several 19th-century vice presidents—such as [[George M. Dallas|George Dallas]], [[Levi Morton]], and [[Garret Hobart]]—followed their example and led effectively, while others were rarely present.<ref name=VP-PS/>

The emergence of [[Political party|political parties]] and nationally coordinated election campaigns during the 1790s (which the Constitution's framers had not contemplated) quickly frustrated the election plan in the original Constitution. In the [[1796 United States presidential election|election of 1796]], [[Federalist Party|Federalist]] candidate John Adams won the presidency, but his bitter rival, [[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]] candidate Thomas Jefferson, came second and thus won the vice presidency. As a result, the president and vice president were from opposing parties; and Jefferson used the vice presidency to frustrate the president's policies. Then, four years later, in the [[1800 United States presidential election|election of 1800]], Jefferson and fellow Democratic-Republican [[Aaron Burr]] each received 73 electoral votes. In the contingent election that followed, Jefferson finally won the presidency on the 36th ballot, leaving Burr the vice presidency. Afterward, the system was overhauled through the [[Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twelfth Amendment]] in time to be used in the [[1804 United States presidential election|1804 election]].<ref name=HF-XII>{{cite news|last=Fried|first=Charles|title=Essays on Amendment XII: Electoral College|work=The Heritage Guide to the Constitution|url=https://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/amendments/12/essays/165/electoral-college|publisher=The Heritage Foundation|access-date=February 20, 2018|archive-date=August 22, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200822232208/https://www.heritage.org/constitution/%23!/amendments/8/essays/161/cruel-and-unusual-punishment#!/amendments/12/essays/165/electoral-college|url-status=live}}</ref>