One of the major issues Adams faced for his reelection bid in 1800 was that he was not the head of his own party. It is rare for the president to not lead his party, but the Federalists were created by Hamilton and he sat at the head of the table. This fact bothered Adams which led to friction between the two men to the detriment of Adams. Even though Hamilton wanted his party to win he would rather see Charles Pinckney take the prize. In the end it did not matter because Jefferson won the day and probably would have even if Hamilton supported Adams, but the feud did not help and it showed that these new parties still were not disciplined.
Historically Speaking 