Election of 1789

The U.S. News and World Report consequential elections series by Ken Walsh continues, with this one covering the election of 1789. (For those of you not keeping score or busy watching American Idol, that was our first presidential election.) Mr. Walsh is better versed on colonial-era politics than he is on Civil War-era elections. (See last week's series on the Lincoln-McClellan 1864 election.)

The country knew the importance of electing the right man, so they selected someone who, "Throughout his adult life, as a Virginia planter, wartime commander, and political icon, had been a model of honesty, persistence, and courage." Hmm.

Is there a good modern academic (unbiased) study available that dissects each election like this from our founding to the present?