THE PRESIDENCY: ORGANIZATION AND MODE OF ELECTION
=The Presidential Office.=--One of the weaknesses in the organization of
the government under the Articles of Confederation was, as we have seen,
the lack of an executive to carry into effect the resolutions of
Congress and the treaties of the United States. There was no doubt,
therefore, in the minds of the framers of the Constitution in regard to
the desirability of providing for an executive department coördinate
with the legislative department. It was accordingly declared that the
executive power should be vested in an officer called the President of
the United States.
_Proposed Executive Council._--While the convention was practically
unanimous in the view that the supreme executive power should be vested
in a single person, a good many members looked with favor on a
proposition to associate with the President an executive council which
should share with him the exercise of the executive power in certain
important fields. Most of the state constitutions then in force had
provided such councils, and now that a national executive with far
larger powers was being created there was all the more reason why it
should be placed to some extent under the guardianship of a council. But
the proposition was rejected, and in its place the Senate was charged
with acting as an executive council to the President in negotiating
treaties and the making of appointments, but in no other respects.
=Qualifications of the President.=--The Constitution requires that the
President shall be a natural born citizen of the United States,[58] that
he must have attained the age of thirty-five years, and must have been
fourteen years a resident of the United States. The same qualifications
are required of the Vice President.
[58] Or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of
the Constitution. This exception was made out of respect to the
distinguished men of foreign birth, such as Alexander Hamilton and
James Wilson, who were members of the convention that framed the
Constitution. As more than a hundred years have elapsed since the
adoption of the Constitution, the exception, of course, no longer has
any meaning.
=The Presidential Term.=--There was considerable discussion in the
convention regarding the term of the President. It was first decided
that the term should be seven years and the President made ineligible to
a second term, but upon further consideration the convention decided to
fix the term at four years and nothing was said in regard to
reëligibility. The result is, the President may serve as many terms as
the people may see fit to elect him. The following Presidents have been
elected to two terms: Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson,
Lincoln, Grant, Cleveland, McKinley, and Wilson.[59] Cleveland, after
serving one term, was renominated by his party but was defeated by the
Republican candidate. He was then nominated for the third time by his
party and was elected. Washington declined a third term and his example
has been followed by his successors. The precedent thus established,
that the President shall serve only two terms, has become part of our
unwritten constitution, and but two attempts have ever been made to
break the custom.[60]
[59] Mr. Roosevelt became President by the death of President McKinley
about half a year after the beginning of the latter's second term. He
served out the unexpired term of Mr. McKinley and was elected to the
following full term of four years.
[60] The first was made by ex-President Grant, who in 1880 was a
candidate for the Republican nomination for a third term, but failed to
secure it. The second was made by ex-President Roosevelt in 1912.
=Mode of Election.=--No question consumed so much of the time of the
convention as that relating to the method of choosing the President.
Various schemes were proposed. A few members favored election by the
people; others urged election by Congress. Against the method of popular
choice it was argued that the people were not competent to choose a
chief magistrate for the entire country, and besides, under such a
system, they would be influenced by demagogues and scheming politicians.
Again, the tumults and disorders, the "heats and ferments" of a popular
election would convulse the community to the breaking point. Against the
method of election by Congress, it was urged that the President would be
a mere creature or tool of that assembly and would be under the
temptation of making promises or entering into bargains with influential
members in order to secure an election. Moreover, such a method was
contrary to the great principle upon which all the members were agreed,
namely, that the three departments of the national government should be
kept separate and independent of one another.
The clause as finally adopted provides that the President shall be
chosen, not directly by the voters, but by electors to be appointed in
each state in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct, each
state to have as many electors as it has senators and representatives in
Congress.
_Breakdown of the Electoral Plan._--It was at first expected that the
electors of the different states, composed of leading citizens
presumably well acquainted with the qualifications of the candidates for
the chief magistracy, would meet at the state capitals, discuss among
themselves the strength and weaknesses of the several candidates, and
then exercising their full judgment, cast their votes for the fittest.
But the scheme quickly broke down in practice, and instead of a real
choice by small bodies of men, we have a system which amounts to direct
election by the masses of the voters, though the form of indirect
election is still followed. As soon as political parties were thoroughly
organized, the electors, who were intended to be men "capable of
analyzing the qualities adapted to the Presidential office," were
reduced to the position of party puppets who no longer exercised their
own judgment in choosing the President but merely registered, like
automata, the will of their party. As Ex-President Harrison once
remarked, an elector who should fail to vote for the nominee of his
party would be the object of execration and in times of very high
excitement might be the subject of a lynching.[61] So closely do the
electors obey the will of their party that we always know at the close
of election day, on Tuesday after the first Monday in November, when the
electors themselves are chosen, who will be the next President, though
in fact the electors do not meet in their respective states until the
following January, formally to register the choice of the people.
[61] "This Country of Ours," p. 77.
=Choosing Presidential Electors.=--In the beginning the presidential
electors of each state were chosen by the legislature, either by joint
ballot of the two houses sitting together, or by concurrent vote. In the
course of time, however, popular election of electors was introduced,
South Carolina (1868) being the last state to choose its electors by the
legislature.
_Choice by General Ticket._--When the system of popular choice of
electors was adopted, two different methods were followed: choice by
districts, and choice on general ticket from the state at large; but by
1832 all the states except Maryland had adopted the general ticket
method, and now there is no state which follows the district method.
Representatives in Congress, as we have seen, are elected by districts,
and hence the delegation in Congress from a particular state is often
divided between Democrats and Republicans. But not so with Presidential
electors; usually the party in the majority in the state, however small
the majority, chooses all the electors. Thus when the Democratic party
carried New York by a majority of hardly more than 1,000 votes in 1884,
the entire electoral vote was counted for Cleveland.[62]
[62] It sometimes happens that the electoral vote of a state is
divided, though the instances are rare. This may be due to the
personal unpopularity of one of the electoral candidates of the
majority party, or it may be due to the mistake of many voters in
casting their ballots for the candidate for elector at the head of
the ticket only, believing that they are thereby voting for the whole
ticket. As a result of the former cause, Harrison received one vote in
California in 1892, while Cleveland had the other eight. As a result
chiefly of the latter blunder, Taft received only two electoral votes
in Maryland in 1908, and Bryan received the other six. In 1916 the vote
of West Virginia was divided, Wilson receiving one vote and Hughes the
other seven.
Among the results of the rule which gives the entire electoral vote of
the state to one of the candidates, notwithstanding the size of the vote
polled by the other candidate, is that each party concentrates its
efforts in the large "pivotal" states whose votes are decisive, and
thereby bribery and fraud in such states are powerfully stimulated.
Candidates for the office of elector are nominated usually by the state
conventions of each party. No senator or representative or any person
holding an office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States is
eligible to the office of elector. Congress, under the Constitution, has
power to fix the day on which the electors shall be chosen, and it has
fixed the day as Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
_Electoral and Popular Vote._--Generally the candidate for President
whose electors receive the largest popular vote will also receive the
largest electoral vote; but this has not always happened, and usually
there is only a rough correspondence between the popular vote and the
electoral vote. Thus in 1860 Lincoln received only about forty per cent
of the popular vote, though he received a substantial majority (about
fifty-nine per cent) of the electoral vote. Again, in 1864 he received
only about fifty-five per cent of the popular vote, but ninety-one per
cent of the electoral vote. In 1912 Wilson received forty-two per cent
of the popular vote, and eighty-two per cent of the electoral vote. Such
discrepancies are due to the fact that the entire electoral vote of a
state is usually cast for the candidate who receives a plurality of the
popular vote of the state, however small it may be. A party, therefore,
may carry enough states by small margins to secure a majority of the
electors and yet be in a minority so far as the popular vote of the
entire country is concerned.
=Choice of the President by the Electors.=--The electors, on the second
Monday of January following their election, assemble in their respective
state capitals for the purpose of choosing the President.[63] The
Constitution as it now stands requires the electors to vote by ballot
for President and by a distinct ballot vote for Vice President, and make
separate lists of all persons voted for as President and of all persons
voted for as Vice President.
[63] The day on which the electors assemble must be the same throughout
the Union. The purpose of this requirement is to prevent deals or
bargains among the electoral "colleges" of the different states.
Moreover, meeting on the same day, the action of one state cannot be
used to influence that of another. In 1857 the electors of Wisconsin
were prevented by a snowstorm from assembling at the state capital on
the day fixed by law. On the day following they met and cast the vote
of the state for Frémont. But when the question of counting Wisconsin's
vote came up in Congress, objection was made that it had not been cast
on the day prescribed by law. As the vote of the state was not
decisive, the matter did not become serious.
_The Original Method._--The Constitution as originally adopted did not
require the electors in casting their ballots to indicate the person for
whom they were voting as President and whom for Vice President, or to
prepare distinct lists. The one who received the highest vote (if a
majority) was to be President, and the one receiving the next highest
number (whether a majority or not) was to be Vice President. The result
of this method of choosing the President was that as soon as political
parties were formed and the electors came to vote strictly on the basis
of party there would be a tie between the two persons highest on the
list, and as there was nothing to show on the record which was intended
for President and which for Vice President there would be no election.
This happened in 1801, when Jefferson and Burr each received
seventy-three electoral votes, and the choice between them had to be
made by the house of representatives as the Constitution provides.
_Twelfth Amendment._--To remove the difficulty, the Twelfth Amendment
was adopted in 1804, requiring the electors in preparing their ballots
to indicate their choice for President and their choice for Vice
President so that the person intended for the latter office could not be
confused with the person intended for President. The amendment also
requires a majority of the electoral vote to elect the Vice President as
well as the President.
_Restrictions on the Electors._--In casting their votes the electors are
prohibited from voting for candidates for both offices from the same
state as themselves. The purpose of this provision is to prevent the
electors from one state--if any state should ever become powerful
enough--from choosing both the President and the Vice President from
that state. This does not mean, however, that both the President and the
Vice President could not be elected from the same state, since the
electors of the other states are not prohibited from voting for two
candidates from the same state.
_Formalities and Precautions._--The Constitution requires the electors
of each state to sign, certify, seal, and transmit to the president of
the United States senate, a list of the votes cast for President and
Vice President. The statutes also require two additional lists to be
prepared, one to be sent to the president of the senate by special
messenger, and the other to be deposited with the nearest United States
district judge. These extra precautions are taken to prevent the loss of
the state's votes through accident or otherwise. This done, the office
of the Presidential elector expires and the electoral colleges cannot be
again summoned to correct errors or to make a new choice in case the
President elect should die before inauguration.
=Counting the Electoral Vote.=--The Constitution directs that the votes
transmitted to the president of the senate shall be opened in the
presence of both houses of Congress and that the votes shall then be
counted. The Constitution does not say who shall count the votes.
Apparently the framers believed that the process of counting would never
involve anything more than a simple act of addition. But in the course
of time disputed returns began to be sent in, and then the process of
counting came to involve the more difficult task of determining what
should be counted. Thereupon the question was raised, who shall count?
Was the president of the senate to count and the two houses act merely
as spectators, or was the president of the senate to open the votes and
the two houses do the counting? For a long time, when the disputes were
not serious enough to affect the result, the president of the senate was
allowed to count the vote and proclaim the result.[64] In 1865 by a joint
rule Congress assumed the right to count the electoral vote, thus taking
the power away from the president of the senate.
[64] Thus Jefferson as president of the senate in 1801, counted the
vote which elected him President of the United States and declared
himself duly elected. So did Adams in 1797. Suppose there had been a
serious dispute in either of these cases, could the president of the
senate have counted for himself the votes in dispute?
_The Disputed Election of 1876._--In 1876 a serious election dispute
arose, involving the presidency. Both Hayes and Tilden claimed to have
been elected, and the result depended upon which of two conflicting
lists of votes from Florida, Oregon, South Carolina, and Louisiana
should be counted. Under the joint rule mentioned above, either house
could reject a questionable vote. One of the houses was Democratic and
the other Republican, and because of the great excitement over the
matter, it was feared that the votes of many states might be rejected
for trivial reasons. After much discussion, in the course of which many
ugly threats were made, Congress agreed to the creation of an electoral
commission, to decide the disputed votes. The commission was to consist
of five senators, five representatives, and five justices of the Supreme
Court. As finally constituted it was composed of eight Republicans and
seven Democrats, and by a strict party vote the commission decided in
favor of Hayes in every case, thus insuring his election. The minority
accepted the result, but not without protest and criticism.
_The Act of 1887._--After this decision, Congress took up the task of
devising permanent rules for counting the electoral vote, and finally in
1887 it passed an elaborate act which now regulates the electoral count.
In brief, it places the responsibility so far as possible on the state
authorities, and provides that the determination of each state as to how
its electoral vote was cast shall, under certain conditions, be final.
If, however, a state neglects to settle its own election contests, and
double returns are transmitted to the president of the senate, the two
houses of Congress sitting separately must determine how the votes shall
be counted. But if the two houses fail to agree, as they did in counting
the vote of 1876, then the vote of the state is lost. The day fixed by
Congress for opening and counting the vote is the second Wednesday in
February.
=Election by the House.=--In case no candidate receives a majority of
the electoral votes, the choice devolves upon the house of
representatives. But in that case the house votes by states, each state
having one vote, irrespective of its number of representatives, and the
choice is made from the three candidates standing highest on the
list.[65] A quorum for the election of a President by the house consists
of a member or members from two thirds of the states, and the vote of a
majority of all the states is necessary to a choice.
[65] It was from the five highest before the adoption of the Twelfth
Amendment in 1804.
_Objections to Election by the House._--The objections to this method of
choice are obvious. It is undemocratic, because the house on which the
choice would devolve in any case would be, not the new house chosen at
the recent election, but the old house, which might indeed, as has often
happened, be in the hands of the political party defeated at the late
election. In the second place, under such a scheme, New York with a
population over 100 times as great as that of Nevada would have no
larger share in choosing the executive. In 1873, for example, had the
choice devolved upon the house, it would have been possible for 45
members (being a majority of the representatives of nineteen states) to
determine the choice in spite of the wishes of the other 247 members.
Finally, the state delegations in the house might be equally divided
politically, and hence fail to elect.[66]
[66] This would have happened in 1912; 22 state delegations were
Republican, 22 were Democratic, and 4 were equally divided.
_Instances of Choice by the House._--Twice has the electoral college
failed to make a choice, thus giving the election to the house of
representatives.
In 1801, there was a tie between Jefferson and Burr, each having the
vote of a majority of the electors. There were then sixteen states, of
which eight voted for Jefferson, six for Burr, and two were evenly
divided. On the thirty-sixth ballot the two divided states voted for
Jefferson and he was elected, as the electors had originally intended.
The second instance occurred in 1825, when the electoral vote stood as
follows: for Jackson 99; for Adams 84; for Crawford 41; and for Clay 37,
no one having a majority. Under the Twelfth Amendment Clay was dropped
from the list and the choice was confined to the three highest
candidates. There were then twenty-four states, and of these the
representatives of thirteen voted for Adams, seven for Jackson, and four
for Crawford.
=Election of the Vice President by the Senate.=--The Constitution also
provides that if no candidate for Vice President receives a majority of
the electoral vote the choice shall devolve upon the senate, in which
case the election shall be made from the two highest on the list. Two
thirds of the senate constitute a quorum for this purpose, and a
majority of the whole number is necessary to a choice. Only once has the
choice devolved upon the senate, namely, in 1836, when Richard M.
Johnson, candidate for Vice President on the ticket with Mr. Van Buren,
failed to receive a majority of the electoral vote. He was promptly
elected by the senate.
=Methods of Nomination.=--Neither the Constitution nor the laws of the
United States make any provision in regard to the nomination of the
candidates for President and Vice President. That is left entirely to
the regulation of the political parties themselves. In the early history
of the republic, before political parties had risen, no nominating
machinery was devised, for none was needed.
_Early Methods._--With the rise of political parties, however, the
method of nomination by congressional caucus was introduced; that is,
the members of Congress belonging to each political party assumed the
power of selecting its candidate in secret conclave. In this way
Jefferson was nominated by the Republican members of Congress in 1800
and 1804, Madison in 1808 and 1812, and Monroe in 1816 and 1820. In the
same way the Federalist members put forward their candidates. In some
cases, however, presidential candidates were nominated by state
legislatures. In the course of time, strong opposition grew up against
the method of nomination by members of Congress, and after 1824 the
caucus system was never again resorted to. The new nominating machinery
which took its place was the national convention, which came into use
between 1831 and 1840.
=The National Convention.=--A national convention to nominate candidates
for President and Vice President is composed of delegates from each
state and territory in the Union, the number to which each is entitled
being usually twice its number of senators and representatives in
Congress.[67] Altogether the national convention consists of about 1,000
delegates. For each delegate there is an alternate who attends the
convention and in case of the absence of the delegate, takes his place.
[67] Apportionment of delegates among the states on the basis of their
representation in Congress bears no relation to the party strength. For
some years there has been a growing sentiment in the ranks of the
Republican party in favor of reducing the representation in the
national convention of the Southern states where the Republican party
is practically nonexistent. In December, 1913, the Republican national
committee adopted a resolution prescribing that representation in the
national convention of 1916 should to a certain extent be based on the
number of the voters of the party in each congressional district. The
effect was to reduce the number of southern delegates by eighty-seven,
and the number of northern delegates by seven. The basis of
representation in the Democratic convention, however, remains
unchanged.
Formerly the four delegates-at-large of each party were chosen by the
state convention, and the other delegates by congressional district
conventions. When direct primary laws were introduced, some states
provided that the latter delegates should be selected by the voters of
each party at the primary, leaving the delegates-at-large to be chosen
as formerly by the state convention. In 1912 a number of states passed
what are known as "presidential preference primary" laws under which
delegates to the national conventions of that year were chosen. Some of
these laws permit the voters to choose their delegates to the national
convention but without allowing them to indicate their preference for
any presidential candidate; others allow a direct expression of the
popular preference for presidential candidates but make no provision for
binding the delegates to nominate the candidate preferred by the
majority of the voters; some, however, provide both for an expression of
the popular preference and for binding the delegates to the national
convention. More than one third of the states now have laws of one or
another of these three types.
_The Time and Place_ for holding the national convention are fixed by
the national committee. The date usually falls in the latter part of
June or early in July of the year the President is to be elected, and
the place is usually some large city centrally located.
=Procedure of a National Convention.=--The convention is usually held in
some spacious building especially erected for the purpose. Besides the
delegations of the states, there are the alternates, hundreds of
politicians who are not delegates, newspaper reporters, and thousands of
spectators from all parts of the country, for all of whom accommodations
are needed.
_Organization of the Convention._--The convention is called to order by
the chairman of the national committee, and the secretary of the
committee reads the call for the convention. Next come the choice of a
temporary chairman, and the appointment and report of committees on
credentials, on permanent organization, on rules, and on resolutions
much as in the state conventions described on pp. 153-155.
_The Platform_ is a series of resolutions commending the national
administration, or denouncing it, as the case may be, and setting forth
the position of the party on the political issues of the day.
Declarations are often made in the platform to attract or conciliate
large masses of voters, sometimes when there is no real intention of
carrying them out. The platform is usually adopted by the convention as
reported by the committee on resolutions, but sometimes important
changes are made on the floor after a spirited contest.
_The Nominations._--After the adoption of the platform, the nomination
of candidates for President is in order. The clerk calls the roll of the
states in alphabetical order so that each is given an opportunity to
present the name of its choice. The vote is then taken by a roll call of
the states, the chairman of each state delegation usually announcing the
vote of the state. Under the rules of the Republican party the delegates
vote as individuals, so that the vote of a state is often divided
between two or more candidates, unless the conventions which appointed
the delegates have instructed them to cast the vote of the state for a
particular candidate. According to the "unit rule" of the Democratic
party, the state delegations vote as units and not as individuals, so
that there is no division of a state's vote; the majority of each
delegation determines how the votes of the state shall be cast.[68] The
rules of the Democratic and Republican parties also differ in the
majority necessary to nominate a candidate.
[68] The convention of 1912 excepted certain states from this rule.
_The Vote Necessary to Nominate._--According to the rules of the
Republican party, a majority of the delegates is sufficient to
nominate, but under the rules of the Democratic party the concurrence of
two thirds of the delegates is required. Thus if there are 1,000
delegates in the convention, 501 may nominate under the Republican rule,
while 667 would be required under the rules of the Democratic party. The
large majority necessary to nominate in the Democratic convention has
often resulted in the defeat of the leading candidate and the nomination
of a "dark horse," that is, a candidate whose name has not been
previously presented to the convention or which has not been prominently
kept before it. Presidents Polk and Pierce were nominated in this way.
_Nomination of Vice President._--Usually there is little contest over
the nomination of the Vice President, the nomination usually being given
to some one supported by a defeated faction or group of the party, or to
a particular section of the country. Thus if the presidential nomination
goes to an Eastern man, the vice presidential nomination is likely to be
given to a Western man. In view of the comparatively large number of
Presidents who have died in office it is to be regretted that so little
consideration is given to the nomination of candidates for Vice
President.
_Notification of the Candidates._--The candidates are formally notified
some weeks later by a committee specially appointed for the purpose. The
nominee in a formal speech accepts the nomination and pledges himself to
support the platform. Usually this is followed by a letter of acceptance
in which the views of the nominee are elaborated more at length. This
completes the formalities of nomination, and the next step is to
inaugurate the campaign for the election of the nominees.
=Conduct of a Presidential Campaign.=--_The National Committee._--The
main task of managing the campaign falls on the chairman of the
national committee. This committee is made up of one member from each
state and territory, and is chosen by the national convention which
nominates the candidates.[69] The chairman is usually an experienced
political leader with a wide acquaintanceship, and is a trusted friend
of the presidential candidate, by whom, in fact, he is usually selected.
[69] In reality each state delegation names one of its own number as
the national committeeman from the state, and the committee thus
constituted is appointed by the convention.
Soon after the adjournment of the convention, the national committee
meets and organizes. In addition to the national chairman a treasurer
and a secretary are chosen. The treasurer raises and has custody of the
enormous funds expended in the conduct of the campaign. As the national
chairman may be compared to a general who commands the forces, the
treasurer is the man who raises the sinews of the war.
_Work of the National Committee._--The headquarters of the committee are
usually established in New York city, with branch offices in Chicago or
Washington, though during the campaign of 1908 the principal
headquarters were located in Chicago. The work of the committee is
usually divided among bureaus or divisions, one of which has charge of
the mailing of campaign literature, another is engaged in the tabulation
of reports, another looks after the employment and assignment of
speakers, another has charge of the organization of voters' clubs
throughout the country, etc.[70] Large quantities of campaign literature,
consisting of a "Campaign textbook," speeches of the candidates or of
members of Congress, pamphlets, leaflets, posters, lithographs, and in
fact everything calculated to influence the voters, are sent broadcast
throughout the country and particularly in the close or doubtful states
where the principal efforts of the committee are concentrated.[71]
[70] In 1908, the Democratic national committee had a labor bureau to
look after the labor vote, and a committee on college men's clubs to
look after the organization of college students into voters' clubs.
[71] In 1908, more than one million copies of Mr. Bryan's speech "Shall
the People Rule" were distributed, printed in all languages spoken in
the United States. Another million copies of his speeches on the
trusts, the tariff, guarantee of bank deposits, and injunctions were
also circulated.
_Activity of the Presidential Candidate._--Formerly it was not
considered proper for the presidential candidates themselves to take an
active part in the campaign by traveling about the country and making
speeches, but in recent years there has been a change in this respect.
Mr. Bryan in 1896 traveled about the country and delivered hundreds of
speeches in behalf of his candidacy, and he pursued a similar course in
1900 and again in 1908 when he was the Democratic candidate. In the
latter year, Mr. Taft, the Republican candidate, likewise entered
actively into the campaign and delivered more than 400 speeches in
thirty different states. In 1912 Mr. Wilson and Mr. Roosevelt made
extensive campaign tours and delivered many speeches. Similar tours were
made in later campaigns.
=Raising and Expenditure of Campaign Funds.=--The management of a
national political campaign requires the expenditure of large sums of
money for printing, postage, telegrams, express, rent of halls, music,
expenses of speakers, organizing clubs, and the like. This money is
spent solely under the direction of the national chairman, who until
recently was not required to render an account of the moneys contributed
for this purpose.
_The Raising of Campaign Funds._--Prior to 1884 the expenditures on
account of a national campaign were comparatively small and were raised
by the party in power largely by assessments on federal office-holders;
but the civil service law enacted in the year previous forbade
assessments of this kind and thus cut off an important source of supply.
More attention then began to be turned toward the great corporations,
many of which desired to become the beneficiaries of special legislation
or to secure immunity from government interference with the management
of their business. In a recent campaign, one corporation, a life
insurance company, contributed $200,000; one railroad company gave
$100,000; and many others $50,000. Sometimes a corporation contributes
equally to the campaign funds of both parties, on the principle that it
is a wise policy to be on good terms with each.
_Contributions of Corporations now Forbidden._--The raising and spending
of so much money as a part of the process of electing a President has
recently given rise to a demand that the sources of national campaign
contributions should be made public. Moreover, it is coming to be
regarded as an evil that the large corporations who desire beneficial
legislation or immunity from prosecution should have become the chief
contributors to campaign funds. This feeling led to the enactment by
Congress in 1907 of a law forbidding national banks and other
corporations which have charters granted by Congress, from making
contributions to the campaign funds of any party at any election,
national, state, or local. The law also prohibits any corporation,
whether chartered under the authority of the national government or not,
from making campaign contributions at any election at which the
President of the United States or any member of Congress is to be
chosen.
_Publicity of Campaign Contributions._--In 1910 Congress passed a law
requiring the treasurer of each national party committee to make and
publish after the election a sworn statement showing every contribution
of $100 or more received by him, every expenditure of $10 or more, and
the totals of all other contributions and expenditures.
Finally, in 1911, Congress went still further and passed a law requiring
the publication of such statements _before_ the election. The elections
affected by these acts are those of President and members of Congress.
The act of 1911 forbids any candidate for representative to spend or
promise more than $5,000, and any candidate for senator more than
$10,000, in his campaign. And such candidates are required to file
statements of all campaign receipts and expenditures.
=The Succession to the Presidency.=--The Constitution declares that in
case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death,
resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of his
office, the same shall devolve upon the Vice President. In case of the
removal, death, resignation, or inability of both the President and the
Vice President, Congress is authorized to provide for the succession.
The only way in which the President may be removed is by impeachment and
conviction. President Johnson was impeached, mainly for the violation of
the tenure of office act, but the senate failed by one vote to convict
him. Had he been convicted the office would have been declared vacant.
There has been no instance of the resignation of a President.[72] Five
Presidents have died in office: Harrison, Taylor, Lincoln, Garfield, and
McKinley. In each case the dead President was succeeded by the Vice
President. No case of inability to discharge the duties of the
presidential office has ever been construed as existing, though in fact
such a case existed from July 2, 1881, when President Garfield was shot,
to September 19, when he died. A similar case existed during the period
in which President McKinley lingered on his deathbed, from September 6
to September 14, 1901. In neither case did the Vice President assume the
reins of office until death had made the office vacant. Likewise during
President Wilson's serious illness in 1919-1920, the Vice President did
not act.
[72] John C. Calhoun resigned the Vice Presidency to become a senator
from South Carolina. The statutes provide that the President shall
signify his resignation, in case he resigns, by a letter to the
secretary of state.
_Succession Law of 1792._--Congress provided by law in 1792 that in case
of the removal, death, resignation, or inability of both the President
and the Vice President, the president _pro tempore_ of the senate should
succeed, and after him the speaker of the house. There were several
practical and political objections to this arrangement, however. In the
first place, there might be considerable periods of time when there was
no president _pro tempore_ of the senate or speaker of the house, and
consequently no one to succeed in case of a vacancy.[73] Another
objection to the law--political in character--was illustrated by the
situation that existed in 1886. The Democratic Vice President Hendricks
had died, and in case the presidential office had become vacant it would
have been filled by a Republican president of the senate. Thus the
executive branch of the government would have passed from the hands of
the party that had carried the country at the last election, to the
other party, merely by the death of a public officer.
[73] From March 4 to October 10, 1881, there was no president of the
senate, and from March 4 to December 15 of the same year there was no
speaker, the new house not having met and organized. Had Vice President
Arthur died before Mr. Garfield's death there would have been no one to
succeed to the vacancy until October 10, when a new president _pro
tempore_ of the senate was chosen.
_Succession Act of 1886._--In 1886 Congress changed the law so as to
give the succession to the presidency to the members of the cabinet, in
the order of the creation of their departments, in case of the death or
removal of both the President and the Vice President. As the members of
the cabinet usually belong to the same party as the President and Vice
President, the office in such a contingency would remain in the control
of the party which elected the President at the last election. No
special provision has yet been made, however, in regard to the
succession in case the President elect and Vice President elect should
die after their election by the electoral college on the second Monday
in January and before their inauguration on the 4th of March. The
electoral college could not be reconvened because it becomes _functus
officio_ immediately after electing the President. As the law stands,
the succession would probably go to some member of the old cabinet, who
might be of the opposite party. In such a case, however, Congress might
provide for a special presidential election.
=References.=--ANDREWS, Manual of the Constitution, pp. 166-177.
BEARD, American Government and Politics, ch. ix. BRYCE, The
American Commonwealth (abridged edition), chs. vi, vii, lii-liv.
FULLER, Government by the People, ch. vii. HARRISON, This Country
of Ours, chs. iv-v. HART, Actual Government, pp. 261-267. HINSDALE,
American Government, chs. xxix-xxxi. STANWOOD, History of the
Presidency. WOODBURN, The American Republic, pp. 116-136.
=Documentary and Illustrative Material.=--1. Congressional
Directory. 2. Copy of the call for a national convention. 3.
Addresses of the temporary and permanent chairmen of the last
national convention. 4. The Democratic and Republican campaign
textbooks. 5. Copy of the election returns. 6. Specimen ballots
containing the names of candidates for presidential electors.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. How many votes is your state entitled to in the electoral college?
What proportion of the total electoral vote is that? Can you give the
names of any of the presidential electors from your state at the last
election?
2. What was the popular vote received by the Republican candidate for
President in your state at the last election? By the Democratic
candidate?
3. Name the Presidents who received only a minority of the popular vote.
4. Suppose a vacancy should occur in the electoral college of a state by
the death of an elector, is there any way by which it could be filled?
5. Suppose the candidate for President should die after the popular
election in November and before the meeting of the electors in January,
for whom would the electors cast their vote? Have there been any actual
instances of this kind?
6. Suppose the President elect should die before the votes are opened
and counted by Congress, who would be declared President?
7. Have there been any instances since 1820 in which a presidential
elector voted against the candidate of his own party?
8. What would be the principal advantage in extending the term of the
President and making him ineligible to succeed himself?
9. Do you think the custom a wise one which prohibits the President from
serving more than two terms?
10. What were the controversies at issue in the disputed election of
1876?
11. What were the objections to the method of nomination by
congressional caucus? Who was the last candidate to be nominated by this
method?
12. Tell something about the first national convention held in the
United States for the nomination of candidates for President and Vice
President.
13. How many parties nominated candidates for President and Vice
President in the last presidential election? Give the popular vote
received by each, in your state and in the country as a whole.
14. Read the platforms of each party and contrast their positions on the
leading political issues.
15. How many delegates is your state entitled to in the national
convention? Who were the delegates at large from your state in the last
Democratic national convention? In the last Republican national
convention?
16. Where did the Democratic and Republican parties hold their last
national conventions? Who was the permanent chairman of each?
17. What is your opinion of the "unit rule" followed by the Democratic
party? Of the "two-thirds" rule?
18. Do you think it would be a wise rule to apportion the delegates from
each state to the national convention on the basis of the party strength
rather than on the basis of population?
19. Since the people of the territories take no part in national
elections, ought they to be allowed to send delegates to the national
convention?
20. What is your opinion of the proposal to nominate candidates for
President and Vice President by direct primary as state officials are
nominated in many states?
21. What is meant by the doctrine of "availability" in choosing
candidates for President? What presidential candidates has your state
furnished?
22. Is Mr. Bryce's assertion that great men are rarely elected President
true? If so, why?
23. Do you think presidential candidates should make campaign tours and
deliver campaign speeches?