[Sailor Steve]

The "Murder, Robbery, etc..." quote has always been a favorite of mine, pulled out every time someone asks "When did American politics become so nasty?" The interesting part is that the most of them really were anonymous, published in one paper or another but not officially endorsed. The candidates themselves hardly campaigned at all.

The election of 1800 cost Adams and Jefferson their lifelong friendship, not revived until years later. The occasion was the death of Abigail Adams, who had never forgiven Jefferson, and was engineered by their mutual friend Dr. Benjamin Rush.