The Long Line

In the sweltering summer of 1787, fifty-five men gathered behind locked doors in Philadelphia with a problem no republic had ever solved. They needed an executive—someone to enforce the laws, command the army, and speak for the nation. But they had just fought a war to escape a king. How do you create a leader powerful enough to govern but not powerful enough to become a tyrant? The delegates argued for months. Some wanted Congress to choose the executive. Others wanted a direct popular vote, but in an age of slow mail and scattered farms, they feared voters could never know candidates from distant states. The compromise they struck was original: the Electoral College.