Step-by-step explanation:
The administration that took office on March 4, 1797, had a Federalist President and a Republican Vice President because at the time, the U.S. Constitution did not require that presidential and vice presidential candidates run on the same ticket. This meant that in the presidential election of 1796, John Adams, a Federalist, won the presidency, while Thomas Jefferson, a Republican, came in second and became the vice president.
The Electoral College at the time operated under a system in which each elector cast two votes for president, with the candidate receiving the most votes becoming president, and the runner-up becoming vice president. As a result, political rivals could end up in the top two positions. This system resulted in the election of Adams as president and Jefferson as vice president, even though they were from opposing political parties.
Adams and Jefferson had different political views and often disagreed on important issues, which made governing difficult. In fact, their disagreements eventually led to a rift between them and the formation of the first two political parties in the United States - the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party. The 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1804, established the current system of separate elections for president and vice president and helped to prevent political rivals from ending up as president and vice president