Yes, it is worthwhile to read Alexander Hamilton's Federalist No. 76, The Appointing Power of the Executive. I have read it and re-read it many times. My recent notes in the margins reflect the reality we face now that Trump has been re-elected president. For example, you quote this passage, "It will readily be comprehended, that a man w…
Yes, it is worthwhile to read Alexander Hamilton's Federalist No. 76, The Appointing Power of the Executive. I have read it and re-read it many times. My recent notes in the margins reflect the reality we face now that Trump has been re-elected president. For example, you quote this passage, "It will readily be comprehended, that a man who had himself the sole disposition of offices, would be governed much more by his private inclinations and interests, than when he was bound to submit the propriety of his choice to the discussion and determination of a different and independent body, and that body an entire branch of the legislature." The paragraph continues: "The possibility of rejection would be a strong motive to care in proposing. The danger to his own reputation, and, in the case of an elective magistrate, to his political existence, from betraying a spirit of favoritism or an unbecoming pursuit of popularity to the observation of a body whose opinion would have great weight in forming that of the public, could not fail to operate as a barrier to the one and to the other." My notes in the margins next to these passages say, "Not for Trump! C'mon! Are you kidding?!" I was going to address Federalist 76 in a Substack post I wanted to write on the appointment process, and I realized after reading it again that none of Hamilton's ideas/theories/perspectives apply in America post November 5, 2024. Yes, there are grounds for despair. This is our reality now. We have much work to do if we wish to save our democratic republic for our posterity.
Yes, it is worthwhile to read Alexander Hamilton's Federalist No. 76, The Appointing Power of the Executive. I have read it and re-read it many times. My recent notes in the margins reflect the reality we face now that Trump has been re-elected president. For example, you quote this passage, "It will readily be comprehended, that a man who had himself the sole disposition of offices, would be governed much more by his private inclinations and interests, than when he was bound to submit the propriety of his choice to the discussion and determination of a different and independent body, and that body an entire branch of the legislature." The paragraph continues: "The possibility of rejection would be a strong motive to care in proposing. The danger to his own reputation, and, in the case of an elective magistrate, to his political existence, from betraying a spirit of favoritism or an unbecoming pursuit of popularity to the observation of a body whose opinion would have great weight in forming that of the public, could not fail to operate as a barrier to the one and to the other." My notes in the margins next to these passages say, "Not for Trump! C'mon! Are you kidding?!" I was going to address Federalist 76 in a Substack post I wanted to write on the appointment process, and I realized after reading it again that none of Hamilton's ideas/theories/perspectives apply in America post November 5, 2024. Yes, there are grounds for despair. This is our reality now. We have much work to do if we wish to save our democratic republic for our posterity.