In the long history of the United States, only one president, George Washington, did not represent a political party.

The Constitution that Washington helped draft in 1787, the Constitution our government still operates under today, makes no mention of political parties, and it clearly did not anticipate them. As originally ratified, the United States Constitution declared that the second-place vote getter in the presidential election would serve as vice president. It was not until 1804, with the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment, that this changed.

Political parties as we know them today began to take shape while Washington was in office. By 1793 or 1794 there was an emerging split between two distinct visions for the future of the country. Groups calling themselves Democratic Republican Societies began to appear in cities around the nation. They would form the nucleus of a formal, concerted opposition party, something that frightened many people, including Washington.