324 WHAT WASHINGTON THOUGHT OF A THIRD TERM. I must be allowed a prefatory word. Washington could not be assumed, even in the absence of positive evidence, to have been unfamiliar with or indifferent to the and contra of this discussion. He presided in the Convention of 1787 while the Constitution was bein£ wrought out, and he was a constant and attentive listener, as we gather from his diary and from what he said on attesting the record of its doings. Curtis (History of the Constitution, vol. 11, p. 476) goes so far as to place him at the head of the whole movement. "Of these men” [the framers of the Constitution] "Washington was the head; and no second Washington could be looked for.” And again (p. 391) : "intimations began to appear in the public prints, as soon as the Constitution was published, that Washington would be the first President of the United States, — an expectation that must, therefore, have been entertained by the members of the Convention before they had finished their labors.” Chapter xin of the work cited details the extended debates on length of tenure, mode of choice, re-eligibility on leaving office or after an interval of years, and other incidents of the presidential function, which began June first, 1787, and continued through July and August, and only closed with the last days of the Convention. The propositions brought forward, challenging study by their great variety, are familiar also to readers of the Madison papers. Bancroft’s History of the Constitution (vol. n, chapter ix) gives a succinct account of them. (See also, Secret Proceedings and Debates of the Convention, 1821, pp. 71-2.) A single executive head with large powers was a novel feature in a scheme of government like this. Switzerland, the only established Republic, had nothing like it. It was as dangerous a feature, to some men’s thinking, as was that proposed political Cerberus, a three-headed executive, which had been under serious discussion. How should a Safe single incumbent of such a magistracy be elected? "By the legislature,” said one, — "by direct vote of the people,” said another, — "clip the monster’s claws by a short term,” was again proposed, — "trust him for life — stability is safety” — others argued. A seven-years’ term, with re-election prohibited, was the first scheme definitely formulated. The clause
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