dice or party animosity. The truth of
Lord Bacon's aphorism that "great empire and little minds go ill
together," should warn us now against the obtrusion of narrow or
technical views in adjusting such a question and at such a time in
our country's history.

Mr. President, from the very commencement of the attempt to form the
government under which we live, the apportionment of power in the
executive branch and the means of choosing the chief magistrate have
been the subject of the greatest difficulty. Those who founded this
government and preceded us in its control had felt the hand of
kingly power, and it was from the abuse of executive power that they
dreaded the worst results. Therefore it was that when the
Constitution came to be framed that was the point upon which they
met and upon which they parted, less able to agree than upon almost
all others combined. A glance at the history of the convention that
met at Philadelphia on the fourteenth of May, 1787, but did not
organize until the twenty-fifth day of the same month, will show
that three days after the convention assembled two plans of a
Constitution were presented, respectively, by Mr. Edmund Randolph,
of Virginia, and Mr. Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina. The first
proposed the election of the executive by the legislature, as the
two houses were then termed, for a term of seven years, with
ineligibility for re-election. The other proposed an election, but
left the power to elect or the term of office in blank. Both of
these features in the schemes proposed came up early for
consideration, and, as I have said before, as the grave and able
minds of that day approached this subject they were unable to agree,
and accordingly, from time to time, the question was postponed and
no advance whatever made in the settlement of the question. Indeed,
so vital and wide was the difference that each attempt made during
the course of the five months in which that convention was assembled
only seemed to result in renewed failure. So it stood until the
fourth day of September had arrived. The labors of the convention
by that time had resulted in the framing of a Constitution, wise and
good and fairly balanced, calculated to preserve power sufficient in
the government, and yet leaving that individual freedom and liberty
essential for the protection of the States and their citizens. Then
it was that this question, so long postponed, came up for
consideration and h