On the evening of 25 Feb., a caucus of congressional Republicans met in the Capitol to choose the party’s nominees for the forthcoming presidential election. Chaired by Senator Stephen R. Bradley of Vermont, the meeting unanimously nominated TJ for president by a voice vote. It then proceeded to the choice of a vice president. George clinton was the most prominent candidate, but strong support also existed among western members for John Breckinridge. Reporting on the proceedings, John Randolph observed that “our western brethren have discovered that they want something more than the free navigation of the Mississippi.” To avoid any potentially divisive debates, a vote by ballot was called without any formal nominations being made. After the first ballot, Clinton was nominated by what the National Intelligencer described as “a very large majority” (Randolph to Monroe, 28 Feb., DLC: Monroe Papers; National Intelligencer, 29 Feb.; New York American Citizen, 2 Mch.; Noble E. Cunningham, Jr., The Jeffersonian Republicans in Power: Party Operations, 1801-1809 [Chapel Hill, 1963], 103-8).

The committee appointed to promote the success of the Republican ticket consisted of Wilson Cary Nicholas of Virginia, Abraham Baldwin of Georgia, John Breckinridge of Kentucky, Thomas Sumter, Sr., of South Carolina, William Cocke of Tennessee, Samuel Smith of Maryland, John Condit of New Jersey, Andrew Gregg of Pennsylvania, Samuel L. Mitchill of New York, Nathaniel Macon of North Carolina, Caesar A. Rodney of Delaware, Joseph Stanton, Jr., of Rhode Island, and Gideon Olin of Vermont (New York American Citizen, 2 Mch.; Aurora, 6 Mch.).