Many concluded that the factional divisions that led to these wars were to be avoided at all costs. This concern was reflected by James Madison in Federalist 10 when he wrote,
“A zeal for different opinions … have, in turn, divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to cooperate for their common good.”
At the same time, the framers expected that people would naturally divide themselves into various factions, especially when advocating for their rights and privileges under the law. Thus, they faced a fundamental problem: how to balance the need for an empowered executive to get things done against the risk of a tyrannical executive favoring only one faction.
The Tyranny of Absolute Power
The framers wanted to avoid the tyranny that absolute power brings after suffering under the British system where the King, his ministers, and his colonial governors held too much power over the affairs of the colonies. In order to try to avoid the abuse of power, they had shaped their new state governments in a way that gave most power to the people through their elected legislators. In contrast, state executive offices were weakened by assigning executive powers to multiple leaders or committees. The framers were so concerned about the abuse of executive power that The Articles of Confederation (1781-1789), the original design for the new nation’s federal government, had gone even further: they did not assign any executive authority at all!
However, The framers’ fear of the abuse of power was tempered by worries of making the executive branch too weak. Some of the framers worried that a weak executive office would make the national government too slow or too weak to respond to threats and emergencies. Alexander Hamilton was an early advocate for a strong executive: he wanted the executive to preside over a strong central government, have absolute veto power, and for the executive to be allowed unlimited time in office.
What's Next?
Now we understand the main problems the founders needed to consider while they were designing the Presidency. Tomorrow, we will delve into the framers’ solutions to the problems of factionalism and tyranny.
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