Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books. Mr. President: How
and Why the Founders Created a Chief Executive by Ray Raphael
References to this work on external resources. Wikipedia in
English (1) Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0307595277,
Hardcover)The little-known story of the dramatic political
maneuverings and personalities behind the creation of the office
of the president, with ramifications that continue to this day.
On June 1, 1787, when the Federal Convention first talked of
establishing a new executive branch, James Wilson moved that
“the Executive consist of a single person.” To us this might
sound obvious, but not so at the time. Americans had just won
their independence from an autocratic monarch, and they feared
that a single leader might commandeer power or oppress citizens.
Should the framers even flirt with one-man rule? For the first
and only time that summer, there was silence. Not one of the
loquacious delegates dared speak up. Eventually Benjamin
Franklin rose, then others. James Ma