§2. In regard to the organization and powers of the executive department, there was a great diversity of opinion. Ought the chief executive power to be vested in one person, or a number of persons? Laws should be executed with promptness and energy. This is more likely to be done by one man than by a number. If several were associated in the exercise of this power, disagreement and discord would be likely to happen, and to cause frequent and injurious delays. Unity being deemed favorable to energetic and prompt action, the chief executive power of the nation was given to a single person.
§3. Secondly, as to the duration of the office. Much of what has been said in relation to the term of office of senators, will apply to that of president. (Chap. XXX, §4-6.) His term of office should not be so short as to induce him to act more with a view to his re-election than to the public good; yet it should be short enough to make him feel his responsibility. And it should be long enough to insure a due degree of independence, and to enable him to carry out his system of public policy. The term of four years was accordingly adopted.
§4. Thirdly, the mode of election. Among the various modes proposed, the one adopted was that of electing the president by electors chosen in the several states for that purpose; the number of the electors chosen in each state to be equal to the number of its senators and representatives in congress. A material alteration in the mode of election has been made since the adoption of the constitution, as will be seen by examining the two modes. (Art. 2, §1; and Art. 12 of Amendments.) This amendment does not change the manner of choosing the electors, but the manner of choosing the president by the electors.
§5. The constitution does not prescribe the manner in which the electors shall be appointed or chosen; it only declares that each state shall appoint them "in such manner as the legislature thereof shall direct." No uniform mode was adopted by the different states. In some states the electors were appointed by the legislature; in others, by the people. At present the latter mode prevails in all the states except South Carolina, where presidential electors are still chosen by the legislature.
§6. The electors are, by the laws of the several states, chosen by general ticket. The names of two men, corresponding to the number of senators to which a state is entitled in congress, together with the names of as many others as there are representatives of the state in the lower house of congress, one to reside in each congressional district, are all placed on the same ballot; so that every voter votes for the whole number of presidential electors to be chosen in the state. And, by a law of congress, the electors are required to be chosen in all the states on the same day, which is the Tuesday next after the first Monday of November.
§7. The electors so chosen are required by a law of congress, to meet in their respective states on the first Wednesday of December, and vote for president and vice-president; and to make and sign three certificates of all the votes given by them, and seal up the same. One of these is to be sent by a person duly appointed by them, to the president of the senate at the seat of government, before the first of January next ensuing; another is to be forwarded by mail, also directed to the president of the senate; and the third is to be delivered to the United States judge of the district in which the electors are assembled.
§8. On the second Wednesday of February, the president of the senate, in presence of all the senators and representatives, opens the certificates from all the states, and the votes are counted. The person having a majority of all the electoral votes for president is elected. If no person has a majority of all the electoral votes, the house of representatives must choose the president from those candidates, not exceeding three, who had the highest numbers of the electoral votes. But in so doing, the members do not all vote together; but those of each state vote by themselves; and the candidate who receives the votes of a majority of the representatives of a state, has but one presidential vote for such majority; and the person who receives the votes of a majority of the states, is elected. Thus in the election of president by the house of representatives, voting is done by states, as was done in passing laws by the old congress. (Chap. XXVIII, §5.)
§9. There have been two elections by the house of representatives. The second was 1825. The votes of the electoral colleges (assemblies) had in December, 1824, been divided upon four candidates. Andrew Jackson had received 99 electoral votes; John Quincy Adams, 84; William H. Crawford, 41; and Henry Clay, 37. Neither having received a majority of all the electoral votes, the election devolved upon the house of representatives. Of the three candidates who had received the highest numbers of the electoral votes, Mr. Adams received in the house of representatives the votes of thirteen states; Gen. Jackson, the votes of seven states; and Mr. Crawford, the votes of four states. Mr. Adams having received the votes of a majority of all the states, he was elected.
§10. By the 12th article of amendments, if there is no election of vice-president by a majority of the electors, then, from the two highest numbers on the list, the senate shall choose the vice-president. Two-thirds of the whole number of senators shall constitute a quorum for such election; and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice.
§11. To be eligible to the office of president or vice-president, a person must be a natural born citizen of the United States, thirty-five years of age, and must have been fourteen years a resident within the United States. The reasons for requiring long terms of citizenship and residence, and mature age and experience, in the case of senators, apply with equal force in the case of president.