[3] The purpose of having a vice-president is to provide a successor for the president in case of his disability or death.
CHOOSING THE PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT.
Clause 2.—Number and Appointment of Electors.
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.
Three plans for the election of president and vice-president were proposed: First, election by congress; second, election by the people; third, election by persons chosen by the people for that special purpose.
The objection to the first plan was, that it would rob the executive branch of that independence which in our plan of government it is designed to possess—it would render the executive branch in a measure subordinate to the legislative.
The objections to the second plan came from two sources. Some of the delegates feared that, inexperienced as they were, the people could not be trusted to act wisely in the choice of a president—that they would be swayed by partizan feeling, instead of acting with cool deliberation. And the small states feared that in a popular election their power would count for little.
Then the compromise in the organization of the congress was remembered, and it was resolved that the election of the president and vice-president should be placed in the hands of persons chosen for that special purpose, and that the number of the electors from each state should be that of its representation in congress. This satisfied both parties. Those who thought that the people could not be intrusted with so important a matter as the choice of the president, hoped that this mode would place the election in the hands of the wise men of the several states. And the delegates from the small states secured in this all the concession which they could fairly ask.
This matter being settled, the next question was: How shall the electors be chosen? There being much difference of opinion on the subject, it was thought best to let each state choose its electors in the way which it might prefer.
Naturally the modes of choosing electors varied. In some states the legislature chose them, but this mode soon became unpopular. [Footnote: South Carolina, however, retained this mode until very recently.] In some states they were chosen by the people on a general ticket, and in others, by the people by congressional districts. The last is the fairest way, because it most nearly represents the wishes of the people. By electing on a general ticket, the party which is in the majority in any state can elect all of the electors. But, for this very reason, the majority in each state has finally arranged the matter so that this is now the practice in nearly all the states.