Section 1, Clause 2. _the Electors Shall Meet in Their Respective

States, and vote by ballot for two persons, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they sign and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person then having the greatest number of votes shall be President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such a majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose, by ballot, one of them for President; and if no person have a majority, then, from the five highest on the list, the said House shall, in like manner, choose the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice-President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them, by ballot, the Vice-President._

According to this clause, we note that the electors voted for two persons without stating which was to be President and which Vice-President. In the official count, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes, provided it was a majority of the whole number of the electoral votes, became President, and the one receiving the next highest became Vice-President.

Election of 1796.--In the election of 1796, John Adams, who received the highest number, seventy-one, out of one hundred and thirty-two electoral votes, was elected President. Thomas Jefferson, his opponent, became Vice-President, having received sixty-eight votes, or the next highest number. Thus there were elected a President of one party and a Vice-President of the opposing party.

Election of 1800.--The election of 1800 also showed the plan to be impracticable. At this time, the Democratic-Republican party was determined to have Mr. Jefferson for President and Aaron Burr for Vice-President. They both received seventy-three votes, a majority of all the votes. But since the number was equal, it devolved upon the House of Representatives to determine whether Jefferson or Burr should be President. For seven days the House was in continuous session, and civil war threatened. On the thirty-sixth ballot, however, Jefferson received the votes of ten States out of sixteen, and was elected.

In order to prevent a recurrence of the conditions which obtained in 1796, or of the dangers incident to a contest like that of 1800, the Twelfth Amendment was proposed by Congress, and, after ratification, was declared in force September 25, 1804. This provides, as we have seen, that the electoral votes must be cast separately for President and Vice-President.

The Presidential Term.--Shall the President hold office for a term of three years, of seven years, or during good behavior? These were questions of great interest in the Constitutional Convention. A term of seven years with no re-election was agreed upon, but toward the end of the convention the clause as given was adopted.

Re-election of a President.--The Constitution does not limit the number of terms for which a President may be chosen, but the "third-term tradition" has now made it practically impossible for the same man to be elected for more than two terms. This custom was inaugurated by the refusal of President Washington to accept a third term. President Jefferson was also urged to stand for a third term, but he, too, preferred to retire to private life as Washington had done. The adherents of General Grant strove to break down this precedent in 1880 but were defeated. Although President Roosevelt had served a part of a term and one full term the argument of a third term was brought against him.

A Longer Term.--It is frequently urged that the Constitution should be amended in such a manner as to provide for a term of six or seven years for the President, with no re-election. Among the reasons for this change are the following: (1) a new President has most of his time, for months, at the beginning of his term, consumed in hearing the claims of applicants for office, and in making appointments; (2) there is danger that he may be influenced in his official actions through desire to secure a second term; (3) the commercial depression that usually exists during a campaign would thus come less frequently. These arguments may be used in opposition to such a change: (1) in the case of an inefficient President, the short term is to be preferred; (2) the Presidential campaign is of value, in that the attention of Americans generally is for a time fixed on the problems connected with the conduct of our government. It furnishes the opportunity for imparting to our citizens many lessons in their political education.

Qualifications for President and Vice-President.--The qualifications for President and Vice-President are naturally the same, and are as follows:--