Nominally at least, Adams was Hamilton's senior in the Federalist Party however the Vice President had destroyed his revolutionary credentials by persisting in his advocacy of an American monarchy. Just a month into office, Adams had been labelled "his rotundity" in the Senate by arguing that George Washington should be addressed with the monikers "His Majesty the President" or "His High Mightiness" over the simple "President of the United States" that eventually won the debate.

A fact that was lost on no one was that the childless Washington was sterile, and the Vice President was almost alone amongst Founding Fathers in having a male heir, John Quincy Adams.

Thomas Jefferson was uncharacteristically drawn into the debate due to the indiscretion of a printer who repeated his harsh criticism of Adam's "Davila Papers". Never one to miss out on an argument, Adams accused Jefferson's anti-monarchism of being a Francophone in nature, stating that his former friend was sowing "Dragon's Teeth" in the new republic.

Prior to the passage of the Twelve Amendment, the runner-up in the presidential race was elected Vice President and consequently Hamilton was saddled with Colonel Aaron Burr. But by irony of circumstance, this unlikely partnership saved the young republic. Because Hamilton made the stupendous error of raising and organizing an army to fight the French by invading the colonies of her ally, Spain.

Hamilton congratulated himself that he had succeeded in pulling the "Dragon's Teeth" by ensuring that America would not be drawn into the French system of thinking. And yet it was not the end of the French episode, because in 1803 Napoleon Bonaparte's brother-in-law General Charles Leclerc landed in Louisiana with twenty-thousand crack troops. Fortunately, Burr was a crackerjack soldier, who, as an emergency Commander-in-Chief, crushed the French at New Orleans.