Cato IV - President or Monarch?
In Cato IV an Anti-Federalist author attacks the office of President under the US Constitution as dangerous and potentially monarchical.
Cato IV
Various Fears Concerning the Executive Department
November 8, 1787
In Cato IV an Anti-Federalist author (probably George Clinton) attacks the office of President under the US Constitution as dangerous and potentially monarchical.
Despite widespread Anti-Federalist writings at the time, this essay is one of the few that criticize the framework of the office itself.
The President
Cato begins his Paper by questioning the method of election for the President, stating that it reads as “vague and inexplicit” which could easily be twisted and “may lead to an establishment for life.”
He then suggests that when a Chief Executive is given great power it needs to be restrained with extremely short term length.
In four years, with control of the military and the ability to pardon anyone who commits treason, the President could conceivably become a monarch in all but name.
The Aristocracy
Cato continues by reminding the reader that, when the Senate is out of session, the President can take advice from whomever they wish.
He believes this advice will inevitably come from “minions and favorites, or a council of state will grow out of the principal officer of the great departments, the most dangerous in a free country.”
In other words, the President is free to set up a High Court in the same fashion as a King.
The Senate
Cato also discusses an issue other Anti-Federalists were concerned with...the overlap between the Executive and Legislative Branches.
The President’s ability to veto laws he sees as unnecessary (and too similar to the powers of a King).
Though this seems like a small bit of crossover, Cato believes the influence this hands the President will give him more sway over all the other aspects of Government than is proper considering the power which has already been allotted for the Executive.
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