One thing I like about historians is that no matter how bad things are, they can cite worse events in our past. For example, there have been mass brawls in the capital building before--only with mobs of representatives, many armed, attacking one another.
In the election of 1800, fought between Adams and Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton wrote a letter to the governor of New York, John Jay, asking him to help get in place electors who favored Adams. While Donald Trump tried to pretend that he wasn't asking people to cheat, Hamilton explained in a straightforward way that when faced with a crisis (the possible election of a drooling idiot like Thomas Jefferson), it was your duty to cheat.
Jay turned down the suggestion. But there followed some flagrant voter suppression. Then, when the election came down to a choice between Jefferson and Aaron Burr, Hamilton eventually backed Jefferson.
I suspect that both Adams and Jefferson ran ugly campaigns, but some of the people in Adams' campaign pushed a Big Lie that even Donald Trump never used. The Adams backers argued that no one should vote for Jefferson because he was dead.
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