Federalist Paper #71: Presidential Leadership

Federalist Papers #67 - 77 discuss the Executive branch of government. Therefore, this is only a bit about the Presidency. Federalist Paper #71, paragraphs 2-4:

Leaders Ignore Bad Fads

Some people think that a pliant Executive, who acts as the community or legislature seems to want, is good. But these people have crude ideas about the purpose of government and the true way to promote public happiness.

The republican principle demands that the will of the community should govern the conduct of those people who are entrusted with management of their affairs. But it does not require absolute compliance to every sudden passion or impulse aroused within the people by clever men who flatter the community’s prejudices to betray their interests.

It is true that the people commonly intend the public good. This often applies even to their errors. But the people’s good sense would hate the adulator who pretends that they always reason right about the means of promoting it.

They know from experience that they sometimes err. It is amazing that they make so few mistakes. They are constantly bombarded by the wiles of parasites and sycophants, by the snares of the ambitious, the avaricious, the desperate, by the artifices of men who have more confidence than they deserve, and of those who seek to possess rather than to deserve it. When the interests of the people are different than what they may want, it is the government’s duty to guard those interests, to withstand the temporary delusion and give them time for cooler, sedate reflection.

We can show examples of when leaders saved the people from fatal consequences of their own mistakes. The people are thankful to the leaders who had courage to serve them at the peril of their displeasure.

Executive Should Act Independently

But even if we insist that the Executive always comply with the will of the people, we can not argue that the legislature must comply in the same way. Sometimes the legislature may oppose the executive. At other times, the people may be neutral. In either case, it is certainly desirable that the Executive should act on his own opinion with vigor and decision.

Separation Avoids Legislative Dominance

Separation of power between the branches of power is very important. Each branch should be independent of the others. Why separate the executive or the judiciary from the legislative, if the legislative can void the acts of both the executive and the judiciary? Such a separation would be in name only. And it couldn’t produce the result for which it was established.

Being subordinate to the laws is different from being dependent on the legislative body. The first agrees with and the last violates the fundamental principles of good government. And despite the Constitution, it unites all power in the same hands.

As shown in earlier papers, the legislative branch tends of absorb every other branch. In a republic, this tendency is almost irresistible. The representatives of the people sometimes seem to believe that they are the people themselves. They become impatient when the executive or judiciary exercise their rights. They act like it is a breach of legislative privilege and an outrage to the representatives’ dignity.

The legislature often seems to want imperial control over the other branches. And since they commonly have the people on their side, they act with a force that makes it very difficult for the other branches of the government to keep the constitutional balance.

The Federalist Papers: Modern English Edition Two: Webster, Mary E.: 9781434842190: Amazon.com: Books