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Chapter 13: The Presidency�Section 3

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Chapter 13, Section 3

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Introduction

  • How did the process of choosing a President change over time?

    • At first electors cast two votes for president, each for a different candidate. The winner became President and the runner-up became Vice President.

    • The 12th Amendment added separate electoral votes for President and Vice President.

    • Electors also pledged to vote for their party’s candidates.

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The Constitutional Debate

  • The Framers of the Constitution debated whether to have the President chosen by Congress or by the popular vote of the people.

    • Opponents of congressional selection felt it would upset the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.

    • Opponents of popular election felt that the people would not know enough about the candidates to make wise choices.

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The Electoral College

  • The Framers agreed on a plan put forth by Alexander Hamilton.

  • They created the electoral college, a special body of presidential electors representing each state.

    • Each state would have as many electors as it had senators and representatives in Congress.

    • The state legislatures would decide how presidential electors would be chosen in each state.

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The Electoral College, cont.

  • Each elector would cast two electoral votes, each for a different candidate.

    • The candidate with the most electoral votes would become President.

    • The candidate with the second-most votes would become Vice President.

  • The Framers did not anticipate the rise of political parties competing for the presidency.

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The Election of 1796

  • In 1796, the Democratic-Republican candidate Thomas Jefferson finished a close second to Federalist John Adams.

  • Jefferson then became Adams’s Vice President, even though they were political rivals.

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The Election of 1800

  • In 1800, the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans faced each other again.

  • For the first time, each party nominated two candidates, one for President and one for Vice President.

    • John Adams and Alexander Hamilton formed the Federalist ticket, while Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr were the Democratic-Republican candidates.

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The Election of 1800, cont.

  • Each party also nominated electors who, if chosen, swore to vote for their party’s presidential and vice-presidential nominees.

  • In the map at right, the orange areas voted for Adams, the green for Jefferson.

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The Election of 1800, cont.

  • As per the electoral college rules, each Democratic-Republican elector cast two presidential votes, one for Jefferson and one for Burr.

  • As a result, Burr and Jefferson tied.

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The Election of 1800, cont.

  • Popular opinion favored Jefferson, who had run as the party’s formal presidential candidate. But there was no rule stating that he should win the electoral tie.

  • Instead, it took the House of Representatives 36 separate votes to break the tie and elect Jefferson as President, making Burr the Vice President.

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The Election of 1800, cont.

  • The 12th Amendment, ratified in 1804, separates the vice presidential and presidential elections.

  • Each presidential �elector now casts �one vote for �President and �one vote for Vice �President.

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Key Terms

  • presidential elector: one of a group of individuals who cast the formal votes that choose the President
  • electoral vote: one of two votes cast by an elector, one for President and one for Vice President
  • electoral college: the group of people chosen from each State and the District of Columbia to formally select the President and Vice President

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Chapter 13, Section 3