Chapter XIII: The Executive Department

The President and His Election.--We have seen that the one great weakness of the government under the confederation was that there existed no adequate executive. After much discussion in the convention, the fear of a despot at the head of affairs gave place to the desire to secure executive energy and responsibility. To-day the President is the most notable personage among all our officials. Mr. Bryce calls the Presidential office the greatest office in the world unless we except the papacy. In the Executive Department the President's power is practically absolute. He may appoint and remove, either directly or indirectly, all officials of the department, and they are finally responsible to him in the performance of their duties. His control of international relations and his influence on legislation are, as we shall see, extensive.

Length of Term.--Article II, Section 1, Clause 1. _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:_--

Method of Election.--How shall the President be chosen? This problem is said to have taken one-seventh of the entire time of the convention. While there were those who believed that election by the people would be wise, still this sentiment was not general. It was thought that a choice in this way would cause great "tumult and disorder." Besides, it was urged that the people would not be sufficiently acquainted with the men who have the necessary qualifications for such high office. For a special investigation of this sort, they agreed that it would be best to select a small number of persons who would be most likely to possess the required information and discernment. The appointment of these independent electors was provided for as follows:--

Appointment of Electors.--Section 1, Clause 2. _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._

Article II, Section 1, Clause 3. _The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes, which day shall be the same throughout the United States._

At present, the appointment of electors is a necessary but a comparatively unimportant step in the election of a President.

The real power exists in the National conventions of the great political parties. Instead of exercising the right of free choice, as they were originally expected to do, the electors are really bound to vote for candidates nominated in these conventions. Let us consider, then, some of the chief points in the history and practical working of National conventions.

Early Methods of Nominating.--Like the development of other
political usages, the method of nominating a President passed
through several stages before the present plan of nominating
conventions was reached. No nominations were made in the first two
Presidential elections. In 1796, Washington having refused to be a
candidate for a third term, party managers in Congress agreed
informally on Adams and Jefferson as the candidates of the
Federalist and the Republican parties respectively. A caucus of
Federalist Congressmen, in 1800, nominated Adams and Pinckney, and
a caucus of Republican Congressmen nominated Jefferson and Burr,
for the offices of President and Vice-President. The Republican
members of Congress continued to hold a regular caucus and thus to
direct the votes of the party electors until 1824. In that year
William H. Crawford, the last Congressional nominee, was defeated.
There was opposition to the Congressional caucus from the
beginning, for such a method was regarded as undemocratic. In 1824
and 1828 the several State legislatures put forward their favorites
for the office of President.

Development of National Conventions.--As early as 1812, De
Witt Clinton was nominated as the candidate of the Federalists in a
convention held in New York City, made up of seventy delegates, who
represented eleven States. But the National nominating convention,
as we know it, was used for the first time by the Anti-Masonic
party, which selected William Wirt for its candidate in 1831. This
method was followed in the same year by the National Republican
party, which nominated Henry Clay. The National convention of the
Democratic party in 1832 nominated Andrew Jackson, who had already
been nominated by many local conventions and State legislatures.
Many years elapsed before the present complex organization was
reached, but since 1836, with the single exception of the Whig
party in that year, parties have regarded the National convention
as an essential factor in electing President and Vice-President.

Prior to the nominations for the Presidency in 1912, the usual plan
was to select two delegates to the National convention from each of
the Congressional districts, and also four delegates at large. The
district delegates were chosen in the district conventions of the
different parties, and the delegates at large in State conventions.
In some of the States all of the delegates were selected in the
State conventions.

It now seems probable before another Presidential election that
some form of the _direct primary_ will be in use in all of the
States. The growth of sentiment in favor of the selection of
delegates to the National convention by the direct primary has been
most remarkable. Oregon, California, Nebraska, New Jersey, North
Dakota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, and
Michigan passed such primary laws prior to the election of 1912.
Pennsylvania had a modified primary law, and in a number of other
States there were voluntary primaries.

Election of Delegates to the National Conventions.--The
National conventions of the Republican and the Democratic parties
are made up of twice as many delegates from the different States as
these States have representatives and senators in Congress.

The National Convention.--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 time set
for the convention, the delegates, together with many thousands of
politicians and sight-seers, flock to that city. Headquarters are
established and delegates are interviewed on behalf of the
different candidates. On the day appointed, the convention is
called to order by the chairman of the National committee, under
whose auspices the convention is to be held. A temporary chairman
is elected, and clerks and secretaries are appointed. Committees
are also appointed, the most important being those on credentials
and on resolutions. Each State delegation selects one of its
members for each of the committees. In the next session, a
permanent chairman is usually selected, and the committee on
resolutions presents its report, which sets forth the platform
embodying party doctrines and principles. Nominations are then in
order. The roll of States is called, and the various delegations
place before the convention the favorite of their State. A State
often waives its privilege in behalf of some other State which has
a candidate to present. Again the clerk calls the roll of the
States, and each chairman of a delegation announces the votes from
his State. In the Republican convention a majority of the number of
delegates voting is sufficient to nominate; but no nomination is
possible in the Democratic convention except by a vote of
two-thirds of the delegates. Then follows the selection of a
candidate for Vice-President. In this choice the attempt is made to
secure some man who will add strength to the party, and who comes
from a different section of the country from that represented by
the candidate for the Presidency. He may, as in the cases of Tyler
and Johnson, represent a faction of the party that is not in entire
agreement with the majority.

The National Committee.--A National committee is also
appointed, made up of one member from each State, who is nominated
by the State delegation. The wishes of the Presidential candidate
are of influence in the choice of the chairman, who need not be a
member of the convention. The committee occupies a position of
great importance, for by it the platform of the party is largely
determined. We have here a body of men not mentioned by the
Constitution, but exerting vastly greater influence upon the
election of President than does the electoral college itself. It
organizes the campaign, secures money, selects speakers, and sends
out party literature. The committee looks after the interests of
the party during the ensuing four years and issues the call for the
next National convention.

Election of Electors.--We are now ready to consider the place of the electors in the choice of a President. The nominations of candidates for the office of elector are usually made at the State conventions of the different parties when State tickets are nominated. These occur, ordinarily, in August or September preceding the November election. Each political party nominates as many electors as the State has senators and representatives in Congress. The names of the electors are then placed on the general party ticket, on which appear also the names of the candidates for President and Vice-President; each person then votes for the entire number of electors to which his State is entitled, and will naturally vote for all the electors on his party ticket. The political party, therefore, which receives the majority of votes in a State secures all the electoral votes of that State.[40]

[Footnote 40: 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.]

Vacancies in the Offices of Electors.--Congress enacted in
1845 that each State might provide, by law, for the filling of
vacancies in the electoral college, and that if any State failed to
choose electors on the regular day, that they might be appointed on
a later day in such manner as the State might, by law, direct.
Nearly all of the State legislatures have conferred on the college
itself the power of filling vacancies.

Function of Electors.--The steps prescribed by the Constitution must still be followed, although we know, long before the electors cast their votes, who the next President will be. The actual function of the electors is given in Amendment XII, as follows:--

_The electors shall meet in their respective States and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President; and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign, and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;--the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted;--the person having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then, from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President, whenever the right to choose shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.--The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have a majority, then, from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States._

Voting of the Electors.--The formal election of President takes place on the second Monday in January, when the electors meet at their various State capitals and cast their votes. Separate ballots are given for Vice-President. Three separate sealed lists of the results are then prepared. Two of these are sent to the President of the Senate, one by mail and the other by special messenger. The third is deposited with the United States district judge of the district in which the electors meet. On the second Wednesday in February the votes are opened by the President of the Senate, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, and counted. That person having a majority of the electoral votes case for President is declared to be duly elected. The one who has a majority of the electoral votes cast for Vice-President is also elected to that office.

Election of President by the House of Representatives.--In
case no Presidential candidate receives a majority of the electoral
votes, the election goes to the House of Representatives, as is
provided in the amendment we are considering. Here the three
candidates having the highest number of votes are alone considered.
The voting is by States. In 1825 John Quincy Adams was elected
President in this way. He had fewer popular and fewer electoral
votes than Andrew Jackson, but he received the votes of thirteen
out of twenty-four States in the House.

Choice of Vice-President by the Senate.--The Senate is called
on to select the Vice-President in case no candidate has received a
majority of the electoral votes. The two candidates having the
highest number of votes are considered. The only instance of the
election of a Vice-President in this way occurred in 1837.

Disputed Returns, Election of 1876.--Disputes have arisen,
from time to time, over some of the returns of the electoral votes.
The most notable contest was that over the returns from Florida,
Louisiana, South Carolina, and Oregon, in 1877. If the twenty-one
electoral votes from these States should be counted for the
Republican candidates, they would be elected. Should just one of
those votes be given to the Democratic nominees, the Republicans
would lose the election. Now the Senate at this time was
Republican, and the House Democratic, and therefore no
satisfactory adjustment could be reached, because of party
prejudices. The excitement throughout the country was finally
relieved by the agreement on the part of both houses to refer the
decision to an "Electoral Commission."

This commission consisted of five judges of the Supreme Court, five
representatives, and five senators. After examining the returns,
the commission decided, March 2, 1877, by a vote of eight to seven,
that Hayes and Wheeler, the Republican candidates, had received the
twenty-one votes in dispute, thus giving them one hundred and
eighty-five electoral votes, and that Tilden and Hendricks, the
Democratic candidates, had received one hundred and eighty-four
electoral votes.

In consequence of the grave problem which arose in 1877, Congress
passed an act February 3, 1887, which provides that any contest in
the choice of electors in a State must be decided by the State
authorities under the laws of the State.

The Original Method of Choosing the President.--Because
Presidents Washington, Adams, and Jefferson for his first term,
were chosen by the plan given in the original clause, let us
notice, briefly, the method used at that time, and especially the
reasons for the change to the present plan.