Thomas Jefferson. First Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801. Manuscript. Thomas Jefferson Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (106)
[Digital ID# us0106 — us0106_2]
Jefferson Seeks Unity in Inaugural Address
After a vicious campaign and a polarizing election that was not resolved until February 17, 1801, after thirty-six ballots in the House of Representatives, President Thomas Jefferson delivered a soothing and unifying message in his first inaugural address. After appealing to “an overruling Providence” to protect the new Republic, Jefferson uttered his now-classic line: “We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.”