Federalist 68: Selecting the President

The first thing to point out about Federalist 68, is that the originally proposed method for picking the President received very little criticism. Hamilton tells us that “if the manner of it be not perfect, it is at least excellent.”^[1] While Hamilton points out that it is critical that “the sense of the people should operate in the choice of the person,” we need to remember our Founders’ profound distrust of direct democracy. They avoided this tyranny of the mob by not allowing direct presidential elections, but rather by having the citizens of individual states select “men chosen by the people for the special purpose, and at the particular conjuncture.”

These specially selected men would then make the choice for the citizens of their particular state. These are the electors whose existence came back into prominence during this past presidential election. There is nothing in the Constitution, or in the Federalist papers, to suggest that the founders intended for electors be pledged to any particular candidate. Quite the contrary. Hamilton points out that the presidential election “should be made by men 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 reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice.” In other words, the selection of the President should be made by a careful and deliberative body and not “the general mass”.

Once again, the Hamilton reminds us of just how prescient the founders were in their philosophy. He writes that it is critical to “afford as little opportunity as possible to tumult and disorder”. He recognizes that a Presidential election offers the opportunity for severe discord, perhaps even enough to “convulse the community with any extraordinary or violent movements”. But by assembling the electors within the states that they represent and having them vote there, they will be exposed “much less to heats and ferments” from the mob, than might happen if they were to assemble in one place in order to cast their votes.

Hamilton points out that there was nothing more important than to eliminate any chance of “cabal, intrigue, and corruption” in this critical choice. He anticipates that one of the ways that we could be undermined as a country would be for a foreign power to gain access to, or control in part, this electoral process. The use of electors rather than a preexisting body makes it much more difficult for an outside government to gain control because they will not know, until it is too late, who the electors would be.

Nobody on the existing President’s staff, no Senator or Representative, can be an elector. The “transitory” nature of their existence, their being removed from both the individuals running as well as the populations within the states that they represent, makes them ideally suited for making an independent decision. The Founders desired that the President not be dependent on anyone else for his position than the citizens of the new United States. The possibility of a foreign donation influencing the election or his being dependent on anyone “whose favor was necessary to the duration of his official consequence” would compromise the person in that role.

Hamilton goes on to explore the idea of the Electoral College “which is, that the people of each State shall choose a number of persons as electors, equal to the number of senators and representatives of such State in the national government”. This compromise allows for some additional representation for the largest of states, but ensures that even the smallest of states have the number of Electoral votes equal to the number of both of their Senators and the variable number of their representatives. That smaller states and more rural areas have some representation in Presidential elections is yet another guarantee that some consider to be a bug, when it is rather an important feature of our electoral system. In the event that no candidate has a majority of the Electoral College votes, the decision goes to the House of representatives who shall select the next President from the top five candidates.

The Vice President is to be chosen in the same manner as the President except that a failure to achieve a majority in the Electoral College for that office results in it being sent to the Senate for disposition. Until 1804 and the passing of the 12^th Amendment it was possible that the Vice President and the President to be from different parties.

And finally, by keeping the vote out of the hands of the people directly, it ensures that the person chosen will not be subject to “low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity” and the ugliness that such a popular decision might occasion.

Indeed.

1. All quotes are from https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/text-61-70 ↑

To read all of John Parillo’s work on the Federalist Papers, check here.

If you enjoyed this article, then please REPOST or SHARE with others; encourage them to follow AFNN. If you’d like to become a citizen contributor for AFNN, contact us at managingeditor@afnn.us Help keep us ad-free by donating here.

Substack: American Free News Network Substack
Truth Social: @AFNN_USA
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/afnnusa
Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/2_-GAzcXmIRjODNh
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfnnUsa
GETTR: https://gettr.com/user/AFNN_USA
CloutHub: @AFNN_USA