Mr. President: How and Why the Founders Created a Chief Executive
by Ray Raphael
2020-12-31 19:31:09
Mr. President: How and Why the Founders Created a Chief Executive
by Ray Raphael
2020-12-31 19:31:09
The little-known story of the dramatic political maneuverings and the personalities behind the creation of the executive office--whose ramifications continue to concern us to this day. The framers of the Constitution, fearful of the tyrannies of mona...
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The little-known story of the dramatic political maneuverings and the personalities behind the creation of the executive office--whose ramifications continue to concern us to this day.
The framers of the Constitution, fearful of the tyrannies of monarchy, sought to create an executive office that would make government more efficient without commandeering power or oppressing citizens. The ensuing debates, pitting James Madison against Alexander Hamilton, with the moderating influence of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, made for high political drama, which Ray Raphael brilliantly re-creates in this unprecedented history. By focusing on the give-and-take of the Constitutional Convention's dynamics, Raphael reveals how the politics and personalities cobbled together a lasting, but flawed, institution. We see the flamboyant, peg-legged hero of the story, Gouverneur Morris, ultimately forcing his vision of the presidency onto the convention with a combination of amazing political savvy, bluster, and deceit. We see how the Constitution's broad outlines were further defined and how the office acquired additional powers as the presidency evolved during the first three administrations. And we see a trajectory set in motion that has resulted, in our own time, in an office that is more sweeping, more powerful, and more inherently partisan than the framers ever intended.
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