Trump v. Slaughter · ¶27

That the Constitution forged a new path was not hidden from those who ratified it. Hamilton frankly conceded that only two States thus far “have intrusted the executive authority wholly to single men,” The Federalist No. 70, at 424, anticipating Roger Sherman’s critique of the Constitution that every other government has “a Council of advice, without which the first magistrate could not act,” 1 Farrand’s Records 97. To Hamilton, however, that was the point. Unlike most States, the Federal Government would have “a vigorous executive” who could act with “secrecy . . . and dispatch”—and would not be able to “conceal [his] faults” behind a council. The Federalist No. 70, at 423–424, 427. “[A] plurality in the executive,” Hamilton argued, “tends to conceal faults and destroy responsibility.” Id., at 427. “It often becomes impossible, amidst mutual accusations, to determine on whom the blame…

slip opinion, revised 7/07/26
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