Executive Power

Introduction

The argument for the Constitution is then stated positively in Nos. 3751. The House of Representatives is described in Nos. 52-61, the Senate in Nos. 62-66, the presidency in Nos. 67-77, and the judiciary, including the principle of judicial review, in Nos. 78-83. Number 84 contends a Bill of Rights is not necessary because rights are provided throughout the Constitution; in No. 85 Hamilton presents an upbeat finale, closing the series on the optimistic note with which it began (Patterson, 2007, 14).

Although the series has a clearly enunciated argument line and organization, certain papers and sections of papers -- for example, Nos. 10, 37, 39, 47, 51, 78, and 84 -- move beyond skilled polemics to a place among the most profound commentaries ever published on human behavior in political society. These include some carefully shaped darker passages about the failure of the Articles of Confederation and humanity's propensity to greed and self-interest, and passages of controlled enthusiasm on future hopes for the young republic (Patterson, 2007, 15).

Debate and Discussion

It was in the presidency that the "energy" and "vigor" of the new republic fused. Hamilton devoted Nos. 67-77 to the presidency. In Federalist No. 70 he wrote, "Energy in the executive is a leading character in the definition of good government.... A feeble executive implies a feeble execution of the government. A feeble execution is but another phrase for a bad execution: and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government (Patterson, 2007, 40)."

The president was given powers to veto laws made by Congress; a twothirds vote of both houses was required to override the veto. The president was, likewise, commander in chief of the armed forces, but Congress declared war and financed the military. The chief executive could conduct foreign affairs, make treaties, and appoint federal judges with the "advice and consent" of the Senate, and pardon those who commit crimes against the nation. What emerged from the convention was a strong presidency, which opponents believed had "powers exceeding those of the most despotic monarch we know of in modern times (Patterson, 2007, 41)." Still, presidential power was both separate from legislative and judicial power, and checked and balanced in numerous ways carefully structured into the basic law by Madison and his contemporaries.

The first important question arising in the federal convention concerning the chief magistracy was whether the presidency should be singular or plural. The two proposals for the Constitution which were most used by the convention, the nationalistic proposal of Virginia, according to Randolph, and the federal proposal of New Jersey, suggested a plural executive. The Pinckney and Hamilton proposals suggested single executives of radically different types, however. The Pinckney proposal became in fact the chief basis for the American presidency (Patterson, 2007, 42).

James Wilson of Pennsylvania proposed a single executive as the best means of "giving most energy, dispatch and responsibility to the office." 3 Roger Sherman of Connecticut proposed a plural executive, leaving ...