Hamilton opens the paper stating the appointment of the President “is almost the only part of the system, of any consequence, which has escaped without severe censure.” He believes the process to elect the President is “at least excellent.” Hamilton continues to describe the people’s involvement as an important aspect in regards to electing a President. He states that the plan for electing the President makes sure to have “men chosen by the people” so the “sense of the people” permeates the election process. These men, special in their own right, would be composed of a “small number of persons, selected by their fellow-citizens from the general mass.” Of course, these men would be superior in their knowledge and ability to analyze all “reasons and inducements” in relation to electing the President.
Hamilton then turns the conversation to the possibility of “tumult and disorder” in the election process. Hamilton stresses the importance of having little opportunity for this to happen. Hamilton confidently asserts the Constitution offers “effectual security against this mischief.” For instance, each state would have the electors meet in a “detached and divided situation” which will remove them from the “heats and ferments” that could be projected from the people “if they were all to be convened at one time, in one place.” In addition, Hamilton wants to avoid “cabal, intrigue, and corruption” at all costs. Corruption could occur, per Hamilton, by allowing “foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils.” Hamilton lists ways that will allow the “agents…[to] enter from the task free from any sinister bias.”
Lastly, this paper reviews the provisions in place to elect a President if a candidate does not receive a majority of the vote. The solution is to allow the House of Representatives to elect the President. All of this combined assures the people that “the office of President will seldom fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.” Hamilton continues for the rest of the paper discussing the election of the Vice-President. He states the “Vice-President is to be chosen in the same manner with the President; with this difference, that the Senate is to do, in respect to the former, what is to be done by the House of Representatives, in respect to the latter.” He closes the paper discussing the benefits of electing the Vice-President in the manner that the convention has deemed proper.
Brandon White: I have read this Federalist paper numerous times and I still do not understand how judicial review is still an issue for some people. The idea that the Supreme Court made up judicial review in Marbury is ludicrous when Hamilton clearly writes that the Supreme Court “must declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the Constitution void.” This, taken in combination with the role of the state Supreme Courts seems to put the idea of Supreme Court creation of judicial review to bed, once and for all.
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