John Adams

The election of 1800 was the first in which an American party lost the presidency to its opponents. Adams, a Federalist, was beaten by Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans after a bitter campaign, and the outcome was settled only when the House broke a tie on its 36th ballot. Adams left Washington before dawn on inauguration day rather than attend, but he left. The handover, which Jefferson called a 'revolution', proved that power could change parties without violence.