Washington again received the unanimous vote in the electoral colleges—132 in number—and Adams became Vice-President by receiving 77 votes for President. When the two Houses met to declare the vote, Vice-President Adams presided in the House, opened and read the certificates of the votes of the several States, and declared Washington and himself elected President and Vice-President. The following is the official vote in the electoral colleges as cast in 1792: ══════════════╤══════════╤═════╤═══════╤═════════╤════ STATES. │Washington│Adams│Clinton│Jefferson│Burr ──────────────┼──────────┼─────┼───────┼─────────┼──── New Hampshire │ 6 │ 6 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Vermont │ 3 │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Massachusetts │ 16 │ 16 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Rhode Island │ 4 │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Connecticut │ 9 │ 9 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― New York │ 12 │ ―― │ 12 │ ―― │ ―― New Jersey │ 7 │ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Pennsylvania │ 15 │ 14 │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― Delaware │ 3 │ 3 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Maryland │ 8 │ 8 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Virginia │ 21 │ ―― │ 21 │ ―― │ ―― North Carolina│ 12 │ ―― │ 12 │ ―― │ ―― South Carolina│ 8 │ 7 │ ―― │ ―― │ 1 Georgia │ 4 │ ―― │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― Kentucky │ 4 │ ―― │ ―― │ 4 │ ―― ├──────────┼─────┼───────┼─────────┼──── Total │ 132 │ 77 │ 50 │ 4 │ 1 ══════════════╧══════════╧═════╧═══════╧═════════╧════ THE ADAMS-JEFFERSON CONTEST 1796 While it was generally accepted that Washington would not be a candidate for a third term, he gave no definite expression on the subject until he issued his farewell address a short time before the election of 1796. Washington was an extremely reticent man, and it is possible that, in view of the serious complications between this country and France, he may have anticipated a contingency that would make him accept a third election to the Presidency, but it seems to have been well understood by those nearest to him in official circles that he earnestly desired to retire to private life at the expiration of his second term. He was then the richest man in the country, his wealth being almost wholly composed of land and slaves, and for twenty years he had been unable to give any attention to his large business interests. While his election and re-election to the Presidency by a unanimous vote were very gratifying to him, he greatly preferred the life upon his plantation, where he gave most careful attention to all the details of its management.