tive. CHAPTER XXII THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT NOMINATION OF PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT. THE great weakness of the government under the Confederation grew out of the fact that there existed The Execu- no adequate executive. The desire to remedy this defect was general and all of the plans submitted in the Constitutional Convention made provision for an executive. There was no agreement, at first, as to whether the executive power should be vested in one person or more than one. The fear of a monarch was deep-seated in the minds of the people. Finally, the desire to secure energy in the execution of governmental affairs and responsibility led to the determination to provide for a single executive. Title and length of It was proposed in the draft submitted by Mr. Pinckney, that the executive power should be vested in a PresiIdent of the United States of America who should have the title, "His Excellency."* The term President was term of the in common usage; Congress had called its chief officer Executive. President, and the chief magistrates in some of the the term of office. Hamilton and Madison favored a continuance in office during good behavior. A term of three years and one of seven years were also recommended during the early days of the Convention. The proposition to choose the Executive for seven years was at first carried by a majority of only one vote; but when the clause, "to be chosen by the National Legislature," was added, eight States agreed to it. That the President should not be eligible for re-election was determined by the same number of votes. So the clause stood in the first draft of the Constitution. Toward the close of the Convention, upon recommendation of a committee that the method of election previously agreed to should be changed, the length of term was fixed at four years. It was then declared, too, that by this change the President might be elected for more than a single term. So the clause finally read: The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows : Article II, section 1, clause 1. election. No problem in the Constitutional Convention was more difficult of solution than that of determining the method by which the President was to be chosen, and it is said Method of to have occupied one-eleventh of the entire time of the Convention. Many plans were proposed. Among them were those which provided for the selection by Congress; by the people; and by Electors who should be appointed as the State legislatures might direct. The method most in favor for a considerable time proposed that the President should be chosen by Congress. The argument which led to a reversal of the decision toward the end of the Convention was that the President would be liable to become a tool in the hands of the dominant party in Congress. This desire to escape any official "The Federalist," No. 68. Section 1, clause 2. Appointment of Electors. influence led to the adoption of the clause that: "No Senator or Representative, or person holding a position of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector." There was general distrust of the method of election by the people because of the "tumult and disorder" which it was believed would be the accompaniment of such an important choice. Then, too, the belief was general in the Convention that the people would not be sufficiently well informed concerning the qualifications of men who were suitable for the Presidency. These views are set forth in "The Federalist" as follows: "The immediate election should be made by men, the most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation and to a judicious combination of all the inducements which ought to govern their choice. A small number of persons, selected by their fellow-citizens from the general mass for this special object, would be most likely to possess the information and discernment and independence requisite to so complicated an investigation." Besides, it was thought this method would insure the election of a man "in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications of a man pre-eminent for ability and virtue." The Convention at last decided in favor of giving the selection of the President and the Vice-President into the hands of independent Electors, whose appointment was provided for as follows: Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, a number of Electors equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector. 1 Many different methods of choosing Electors have been used. The favorite at first was that each State legislature chose the Electors for its State. South Carolina used this method until 1868. The district method has also been used, by which an Elector is chosen in each of the Congressional districts and two for the State at large. This method, which most nearly expresses the wishes of the people, has been used but once since 1832.* At the present time, the Electors are elected in each State on a general ticket by direct vote. Each political party nominates a “number of Electors equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in Congress." The nominations of candidates for the office of Elector are usually made at the State Conventions of the different parties when they nominate State tickets. These occur usually in August or September preceding the November election. Each person then votes for the entire number of Electors to which his State is entitled, and will naturally vote for all the Electors of his party ticket. The political party, therefore, which receives the majority of the votes in a State secures all the Electoral votes of that State.t * In 1892, Michigan chose her Electors by districts. A test case was brought before the United States Supreme Court on the ground of unconstitutionality. It was decided that the Legislature had acted within its powers, but two years later the law was repealed. + It has sometimes happened, however, when the election in a State has been close that one or more of the Electors on a minority ticket have run ahead of the other candidates on that ticket and have secured a larger number of votes than candidates on the majority ticket, thus obtaining an election. California, in 1892, gave one Electoral vote to Mr. Harrison and eight to Mr. Cleveland, and again, in 1896, gave eight votes to Mr. McKinley and one to Mr. Bryan. Kentucky, in 1896, cast twelve votes for Mr. McKinley and one for Mr. Bryan. Instances have occurred in which two weaker political parties have combined in their Electoral ticket against a stronger party and by such a fusion have been able to carry a State, thus dividing the Electoral votes of that State between them. It was originally intended that the Electors should exercise the right of free choice, but on account of the growth of the power of political parties they do not. They are pledged to vote for candidates already Nomination nominated in party Conventions. So we know the day following the election who is to be the next President. The framers of the Constitution did not anticipate such an influence and considered no plans for nominating candidates. But as this has become the real method by which Presidents are selected, we shall consider next the place of National Conventions. of candidates for President and VicePresident. al Conven tions. The National Conventions of both the great parties The Nation are made up of twice as many delegates from the different States as these States have Representatives and Senators in Congress. There are also chosen as many alternates as delegates. The place of a delegate is taken by his alternate when the delegate is not able to attend the Convention. These delegates are chosen by Conventions in the different States in April or May of the Presidential election year. According to the usual method, two delegates are selected for each of the Congressional districts by the district Conventions of each party and four delegates-at-large are chosen by the State Conventions. In some States all the delegates of a party are selected in the State Convention. The Republican party Convention also admits to full membership two delegates from each Territory and one from the District of Columbia. The National Convention is held in some leading city during the month of June or July of the year in which a President is to be elected. A few days before the day set for the Convention the delegates, together with many thousands of politicians, newspaper reporters, and sightseers, flock to that city. Head-quarters are established and delegations "labored with" in behalf of the differ |