Citizen Advocates for Constitutional Principles


Constitutional Gems - # 804 - 01-28-2008


Who elects the President?

Every four years we go through an intense process of primaries, caucuses and a general election. But the selection process does not end with the general election. After the voters of America have cast their vote it then becomes the Electoral College that actually selects the next president to be. Why did the Founding Fathers separate the people from directly electing a president?

They saw the direct election of a president like having a true democracy. The general masses are easily swayed by emotion and they generally do not have the time to really study issues. This is why we elect representatives to congress rather than have national townhall meetings to decide issues.

It has been proposed that the election should be made by the people at large: that is, that an act which ought to be performed by those who know most of eminent characters and qualifications should be performed by those who know least. - James Madison, The Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787. Which Framed the Constitution of the United States of America; ed. Gaillard Hunt and James Brown Scott, pg. 318-320

As we elect representatives for the House and Senate we also elect representatives to elect the president. This was the way it was designed.

Contributed by George Sweeney

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