Federalist No. 68
Federalist No. 68 is the 68th essay of "The Federalist Papers", and was published on March 12, 1788. It is probably written by Alexander Hamilton under the pseudonym "Publius", the name under which all of the Federalist Papers were published. Since all of them were written under this pseudonym, who wrote what cannot be verified with certainty. Entitled "The Mode of Electing the President", No. 68 describes a perspective on the process of selecting the Chief Executive of the United States. In writing this essay, the author sought to convince the people of New York of the merits of the proposed Constitution. Number 68 is the second in a series of 11 essays discussing the powers and limitations of the Executive branch and the only one to describe the method of selecting the president.
The Independent Journal
By January 8, 1788, thirty-six Federalist essays had been published between the newspapers. John McLean bundled these thirty-six together and published them as "The Federalist: A Collection of Essays, Written in Favour of the New Constitution, as Agreed upon by the Federal Convention, September 17, 1787", Volume I, on March 22, 1788. Publication of the essays resumed on 11 January, and essays thirty-seven to seventy-seven were published from that time through to April 2, 1788. Before the final eight could be published publicly in the newspapers, John McLean compiled and released Volume II of "The Federalist" essays, which consisted of essays thirty-seven through eighty-five, on May 28, 1788. The eight unpublished essays appeared in "The Independent Journal" and "New York Packet" between June 14 and August 16.