"The well-meaning but uninformed people." -Jefferson

The idea of how to elect a suitable president during the Constitutional Convention in 1787 was fiercely debated. The election of the President needed to be in accordance with the Revolution’s ideas of republicanism, independence, and virtue. These beliefs produced three main outcomes that would lead to an election of the Commander in Chief (Gregg 3). A direct popular vote was debated but shunned because the Founding Fathers thought the American populace did not know enough about a candidate to elect a virtuous politician. A vote by the legislature was also debated, but then the issue of independence was brought up. Would the President act to benefit the country or his own interests knowing that it was personal favors in Congress that got him the esteemed job?

Many statesmen were also concerned with the issue of power. It was a theme during the debates that the citizens of the smaller states would not have equal representation in the government. The Founders’ republican ideas were symbiotic to this fear and stressed the proportional representation of the populace (Longley and Peirce 13). The election of a tyrant was another fear that drove the convention towards the third and final debate, the idea of an intermediary election (Longley and Peirce 18).

James Wilson proposed the idea in early June, months before any actual decision was agreed upon by the convention in September (Longley and Peirce 18- 19). The idea agreed upon became Article II of the Constitution. The states would have a minimum of 3 electoral votes, two for the number of senators, and one to represent the people. The number of electors representing the people is based upon the results of each census. These electors would then meet as the Electoral College to elect the President by a majority vote. The process is structured so the common people suggest to their selected electors a way to vote in the College. Therefore fellow politicians are able to judge the candidate’s character as a virtuous and independent person.

Here is a link to a CNN video clip from 2004 entitled Electoral College 101.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2004/10/25/morawski.electoral.college.101.cnn?iref=videosearch