The Political Presidency: Discovery and Invention

The presidency was the most novel institution that the framers of the Constitution created, and also the one office whose political capacity and potential were most difficult to predict. No adequate precedent was available for a national executive constituted on republican principles. The framers finally adopted an untried system of presidential electors not because they had any coherent idea of how it would work, but because the defects of other modes of election, either by the people or Congress, left them with little other choice. The true political character of the presidency emerged only during the partisan struggles that dominated American politics after 1791. These demonstrated that control of the national government required control of the presidency, particularly when matters of foreign policy came to the fore; and that the rules for choosing electors would be completely dominated by partisan manipulations.