What was the founders’ vision for the presidency?
About this video
A scholar explains that Americans rebelled partly against the tyranny of King George III, and the Articles of Confederation then created a government with no executive. By 1787 the founders agreed this was a mistake and that the nation needed a single elected executive to enforce laws and conduct foreign policy, a move back toward Britain's model that remains a puzzle in American history.
You'll be able to
- explain why the Articles of Confederation had no executive.
- describe what the founders agreed on about the executive at the 1787 convention.
- explain why creating a strong executive was a surprising move after the Revolution.
Key words
- Articles of Confederation
- The first framework of US government, adopted after independence, which had no executive.
- executive
- The person or branch responsible for enforcing laws and conducting foreign policy.
- tyranny
- Cruel or unfair use of power by a ruler.
- congressional supremacy
- A system where the legislature holds most of the power, as under the Articles of Confederation.
Transcript
I think it's really worth breaking apart two parts of the founding. Because part of why we revolted against Great Britain was because we were tired of fed up with tyrannical behavior by King George III, by this guy. One of the things that happens initially after the Declaration of Independence is we formed this patchwork framework, the Articles of Confederation that had no executive. By the time we get to the constitutional convention in 1787. Ten years have passed and everyone has come to the realization that actually that was a mistake and that the United States and needed an executive. The one thing on which there was genuine consensus at the Constitutional Convention was to have a single executive who would be elected through some manner. That was a matter of debate, to exercise executive power to be the one responsible for enforcing the law for conducting foreign policy. This was actually, in some respects,
a move back toward the monarchical model of Great Britain and away from the congressional supremacy model, the Articles of Confederation. It's one of the real sticking points in American constitutional history is how we went back toward a strong executive after one of the reasons why we had rebelled against England was fear of a single strong executive.
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