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The first election in American history was probably the most predictable.
美国历史上的第一次选举可能是最容易预测的。
Running effectively unopposed George Washington became president after a lengthy ballot process.
在经过漫长的投票过程后，乔治·华盛顿在实际上没有对手的情况下当选总统。
What was exciting though was the race for Vice Presidents.
然而，令人兴奋的是副总统竞选。
In this era, parties didn't really yet exist with the primary divisions being between the federalists who John Adams supported and the anti-federalists.
在这个时代，政党还没有真正存在，主要的分歧是约翰·亚当斯支持的联邦主义者和反联邦主义者之间的分歧。
That meant no such thing as tickets with people voting for a VP chosen by the presidential nominee.
这意味着没有门票这样的事情，人们投票给总统候选人选出的副总统。
Instead, the Vice Presidency was dependent on the votes of electors and in the end those electors gave John Adams a plurality.
相反，副总统依赖于选举人的投票，最终这些选举人给了约翰·亚当斯多数票。
The ascension of John to the number two spot in the government made Abigail Adams the first second lady in U.S. history although the term wasn't yet used at the time.
约翰升任政府二号人物使阿比盖尔·亚当斯成为美国历史上的第一夫人，尽管当时还没有使用这个词。
In fact, a lot of things that we associate with modern elected government simply didn't exist.
事实上，我们与现代民选政府联系在一起的许多事情根本就不存在。
The capital for one thing was still New York, a city Abigail admired and enjoyed living in.
首先，首都仍然是纽约，这是阿比盖尔喜爱和享受生活的一座城市。
Unfortunately for her, it would switch to Philadelphia after just one year at a city she hated with miserable weather that triggered her rheumatism.
对她来说不幸的是，在纽约呆了短短一年后，她就转到了费城，她讨厌这个城市，那里的恶劣天气引发了她的风湿病。
As a result, the second lady would spend most of her time back on their farm in Braintree itself soon to be renamed Quincy.
因此，这位美国第二夫人（美国副总统妻子）很快就把大部分时间花在他们在布伦特里的农场上，并将其更名为昆西。
Another way governance differed was that the Vice President's family didn't get any official help at all while Washington was given a modest home to live in and had the resources to throw lavish parties.
政府治理的另一个不同之处是，副总统的家人根本没有得到任何官方帮助，而华盛顿得到了一个还不错的住房，并有资源举办奢华的派对。
The Adams's were forced to find themselves a house and pay for everything.
亚当斯一家被迫为自己找了一栋房子，并支付了一切费用。
Since this coincided with Abigail and John having financial difficulties, it meant living a spartan existence on the fringes of society, continually ignored in favor of richer members of the cabinet.
由于这与阿比盖尔和约翰的经济困难不谋而合，这意味着他们在社会边缘过着简朴的生活，总是被内阁中较富有的成员所忽视。
Speaking of which, that's one thing that was similar to today's era.
说到这里，这是一件与今天的时代相似的事情。
The complete and utter uselessness of the VP job.
副总裁这份工作完全毫无用处。
While it might have separated them, Abigail had been proud of her husband's vital work in the continental congress.
虽然这可能会让他们分开，但阿比盖尔一直为她丈夫在大陆议会的重要工作感到自豪。
Now they were both simply frustrated with his meaningless position with John's inability to even speak during senate debates.
现在，他们都对他毫无意义的立场感到沮丧，因为约翰甚至无法在参议院辩论中发言。
The only good thing about being VP was how it made him the natural choice to become the next president.
担任副总统唯一的好处是，这让他成为下一任总统的自然而然的选择。
We say natural because again these were early days and the concept of American democracy was still pretty fragile.
我们之所以说自然，是因为现在还处于早期阶段，美国民主的概念仍然相当脆弱。
When George Washington announced he would retire after two terms, Abigail and John were basically all like--great, it's our turn next and they were genuinely shocked when they had to face a competitive election.
当乔治·华盛顿宣布他将在两届任期后退休时，阿比盖尔和约翰基本上都是--太好了，下一次轮到我们了，当他们不得不面对竞争激烈的选举时，他们真的感到震惊。
Back in 1793, John's old frenemy Thomas Jefferson had quit as secretary of state over a rift between the federalists and the anti-federalists.
早在1793年，约翰的宿敌托马斯·杰斐逊因联邦主义者和反联邦主义者之间的裂痕而辞去了国务卿一职。
Now Jefferson joined forces with James Madison to found the democratic republican party.
现在，杰斐逊与詹姆斯·麦迪逊联手成立了民主党共和党。
It's these dudes John would have to fight in America's first competitive election.
正是这些家伙，约翰将不得不在美国第一次竞争激烈的选举中奋力拼搏。
For her part, Abigail was so furious that Jefferson was standing against her husband that she cut off a long-term correspondence with him.
对于阿比盖尔来说，她是如此愤怒，杰斐逊站在她丈夫的对立面上，她切断了与杰斐逊的长期通信。
They wouldn't write to one another again for over a decade.
他们在十多年的时间里都不再写信。
Over November and December 1796, the states held their elections, with 70 electoral college votes needed to win. Jefferson nabbed 68 while John Adams cinched it with 71.
1796年11月和12月，各州举行了选举，需要70张选举人票才能获胜。杰斐逊获得68票，约翰·亚当斯获得71票。
Unfortunately, the weird system in place at the time meant Jefferson would now become Vice President.
不幸的是，当时奇怪的制度意味着杰斐逊现在将成为副总统。
And in the wake of a toxic election that would clearly spell trouble.
而在一场有毒的选举之后，这显然会带来麻烦。
Abigail sought as much despite revelling in her husband's victory, she seemed to instinctively know that the coming four years would turn her into a lightning rod for discontent.
尽管阿比盖尔对丈夫的胜利欢欣鼓舞，但她似乎本能地知道，未来四年将把她变成招惹不满的是非人物。
I expect to be vilified and abused. She wrote to a friend predicting.
我预计会遭到诽谤和辱骂。她写信给一位朋友预言道。
She would figuratively be fastened up hand and foot and tongue to be shot at as our quincy lads do at the poor geese and turkeys.
她会像我们昆西的小伙子们对待可怜的鹅和火鸡一样，被捆住手脚和舌头，被枪毙。
It was a bleak assessment of the state of American politics a dark vision of what was to come.
这是对美国政治状况的悲观评估，对即将发生的事情的悲观展望。
Unfortunately, it is also right.
不幸的是，这样的预测是对的。
