Two early American political parties, the Federalists led by Alexander Hamilton and the Democratic-Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson, began taking shape in response to disagreements over how to interpret the new Constitution. While George Washington was wary of factions, he supported most of Hamilton's financial policies over Jefferson's agrarian vision. The election of 1796 saw the first contested party presidential election between John Adams of the Federalists and Thomas Jefferson of the Democratic-Republicans, and featured negative campaigning tactics.