Trump v. Slaughter · ¶4

Nearly 250 years ago, the Framers decided to vest “[t]he executive Power” in one person—“a President of the United States of America.” Art. II, § 1, cl. 1. The choice was not made lightly. Within living memory were the “long train of abuses and usurpations” of a King who reigned as “a Tyrant.” Declaration of Independence ¶¶2, 30. Indeed, several delegates to the Constitutional Convention pushed for a multimember council instead of “unity in the Executive magistracy,” which they feared would serve as “the foetus of monarchy.” 1 Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, p. 66 (M. Farrand ed. 1911) (Farrand's Records) (E. Randolph). But unity won out. Our Constitution's drafters knew from experience that a “plurality in the executive”— the model in use by most States at the time—not only “diminishe[s]” the “activity, secrecy, and dispatch” necessary to ensure “good government” but “tends…

preliminary print (page proof)
Source edition
Passage preview. Read in context for the complete text, notes and references.