In the book “A Magnificent Catastrophe,” Edward J. Larson examines all aspects of the events that occurred during the first presidential campaign in the 1800s. Larson discusses the rivalry battle for the presidential election between Thomas Jefferson of the Republicans and John Adams of the Federalists. In 1776, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were sent to Philadelphia as delegates to the Second Continental Congress. They joined a five-member committee that drafted a declaration of independence from the United States. They then voted to adopt and sign the document their committee drafted, namely the Declaration of Independence. Adams was most active in promoting independence and held the longest and most effective position, but it was Jefferson himself who wrote the Declaration of Independence. For a long period, Adams and Jefferson were under the guidance of Hamilton and Franklin where they built a strong friendship while working together to form a sovereign nation within the thirteen dependent colonies. In 1797, Adams succeeded to the presidency of the United States after George Washington retired from his seat. Jefferson accompanied Adams and became vice president of the United States. Soon after, tension rose in the early 1800s between Adams and Jefferson, which soon ended their friendship due to all the animosity between the two. Adams and the Federalist Party feared that Jeffersonian rule would cause political, social, and religious upheaval. Jefferson doubted whether the country's democratic institutions could survive another four years of Adams' rule. In doing so, American citizens began to fear that the country would collapse. Larson's book...... middle of paper ......t. This was a good book to read to learn more about what was happening during presidential campaigns in the 1800s. I would rather someone learn about presidential campaigns by reading this book rather than a textbook. Textbooks are too straight to the point when it comes to politics and don't go into detail. For example, Larson talked about the events leading up to and during the presidential campaigns in chronological order and he described in detail everything from the animosity to the letters written and newspaper articles distributed. Larson wrote this book as if it were a movie and that's what I loved the most about this book, so I would definitely recommend this book. Work Cited Larson, EJ A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign. New York: Simon & Schuster Audio, 2007.