Madison�s notes from Philadelphia record Hamilton lamenting the fact that
only a government of republican form could realistically be proposed. In
his private opinion, "the British Govt. was the best in the
world" and "he doubted much whether any thing short of it would
do in America." The House of Lords he called "a most noble
institution. Having nothing to hope for by a change, ... they form a
permanent barrier agst. every pernicious innovation." And in
structuring an Executive "[t]he English model was the only good one
on this subject. The Hereditary interest of the King was so interwoven
with that of the Nation, and his personal emoluments so great, that he
was placed above the danger of being corrupted from abroad � and at the
same time was both sufficiently independent and sufficiently controuled,
to answer the purpose of the institution at home." Therefore,
Hamilton concluded, "we ought to go as far in order to attain
stability and permanency, as republican principles will admit. Let one
branch of the Legislature hold their places for life or at least during
good behaviour. Let the Executive also be for life." (1 Farrand 288
� 289).
Warren says that "this Hamilton sketch was neither referred to any
Committee nor taken up by the Convention for action in any way. `The
gentleman from New York is praised by all, but supported by no
gentleman,' observed Dr. William Samuel Johnson." (Warren, The
Making of the Constitution, 228 (1928) (citing King's notes).)
Laurence Claus
University of San Diego School of Law
At 07:20 PM 7/1/2003 -0400, you wrote:
In
a message dated 7/1/2003 12:11:32 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
I do believe,
though, that he [Hamilton] favored very long terms for presidents, which
certainly approaches the monarchical principle.
Was there much discussion--in or out
of the Constitutional Convention--about the number of years of a
President's term? Is there any literature examining this question and
revealing why the Founders chose a term of four years? Was there any
discussion about limiting the number of terms a President could
serve?
Bobby Lipkin
Widener University School of Law
Delaware
