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In Federalist No. 69 Hamilton argues that the president is not as powerful a position as some have made it out to be while in Federalist No. 70 he argues that having any less power vested in the president would be a recipie for bad government.
I have found it to be very interesting, not only in these Federalist Papers, to see the proposed government compared to the state governments that existed as well as to foreign governments. For example, Hamilton shows how the office of president as proposed holds powers inferior not only to the king of Great Britain (to which it had been compared by detractors) but also in virtually every instance to many of the governors of individual states. The other thing that I find interesting in this study is how closely subsequent state governments model the federal Constitution when they were being established.
2 replies on “Federalist Nos. 69 – 70”
Many state constitutions were modeled on the federal constitution because they were coerced to do so. Otherwise, they would not have been allowed to become states. Utahans should understand this better than anyone.
While the Founders viewed the Chief Executive as some kind of super clerk, the job has evolved since then. Today, the president is expected to develop the legislative agenda and to work closely with legislators to tailor it to his desires.
I was appalled with the first ‘stimulus’ package that went through Congress after President Obama took office. However, I was also appalled when ‘conservative’ pundits criticized the President for letting Nancy Pelosi develop the legislation with little oversight. I was scratching my head, thinking, “Isn’t that the way it’s really supposed to work?”
As the size and scope of the federal government has engulfed more and more, we have come to regard the Chief Executive as more of a demigod than a super clerk. This is not good. We should all be taught the dangers of entrusting one person with so much power.
I failed to mention that while the office of President started out generally weaker than the governors of the time it has grown to exceed the practical authority of the British Monarch of our day.