"'If this
government,' said the Court, 'is anything more than a mere aggregation
of delegated agents of other States and governments, each of which is
superior to the general government, it must have the power to protect
the elections on which its existence depends from violence and
corruption. If it has not this power it is left helpless before the two
great natural and historical enemies of all republics, open violence and
insidious corruption.'"[37] The conception of Electors as State officers
is still, nevertheless, of some importance, as was shown in the recent
case of Ray _v._ Blair,[38] which is dealt with in connection with
Amendment XII.[39]

"NATURAL-BORN" CITIZEN

Clause 3 of this section, while requiring that the Electors each vote
for two persons, did not require them to distinguish their choices for
President and Vice President, the assumption being that the Vice
President would be the runner-up of the successful candidate for
President. As a result of this arrangement the election of 1800 produced
a dangerous tie between Jefferson and Burr, the candidates of the
Republican-Democrat Party for President and Vice President respectively.
Amendment XII, which was adopted in 1803 and replaces clause 3, makes a
recurrence of the 1800 contretemps impossible. _See_ pp. 941-942. Clause
4 testifies still further to the national character of Presidential
Electors. Clause 5 is today chiefly of historical interest, all
Presidents since, and including Martin Van Buren, except his immediate
successor, William Henry Harrison, having been born in the United States
subsequently to the Declaration of Independence. The question, however,
has been frequently mooted, whether a child born abroad of American
parents is "a natural-born citizen" in the sense of this clause. The
answer depends upon whether the definition of "citizens of the United
States" in section I of Amendment XIV is to be given an exclusive or
inclusive interpretation. _See_ pp. 963-964.

PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION

Was it the thought of the Constitution that a Vice President, in
succeeding to "the powers and duties" of the office of President, should
succeed also to the title? In answering this question in the affirmative
in 1841, John Tyler established a precedent which has been followed ever
since; but inasmuch as all successions have taken place in consequence
of the death in office of a President, the precedent would not
necessarily hold in the case