His name consistently popped up as a possible candidate for the vice presidency of the United States. Under the new Constitution, the candidate with the most electoral votes was elected president while the runner-up became vice president. Everyone agreed that Washington would be chosen as nation's first chief executive, but the field of vice presidential candidates was wide open. The most astute political observer in the city, Virginia congressman James Madison, thought the vice president should hail from New England to balance the Washington administration. In gauging the prevailing political sentiment, Madison pared the possibilities down to John Adams, John Hancock, John Jay, or Knox. Writing to Thomas Jefferson on Wednesday, October 8, 1788, Madison said he preferred Jay or Knox but thought that neither would accept the job, since it was a largely impotent post. The following day, Alexander Hamilton sounded out Massachusetts congressman Theodore Sedgwick in a letter discussing the vice presidency: "What think you of Lincoln or Knox?" he asked.1 Sedgwick responded on Thursday, October 16, opining that: "Lincoln & Knox I love, their characters too, I respect.
