“Not the Best, but Better Than the Rest” “The method of choosing the president proved to be But one of many vexing problems for the fifty-five men who assembled in Philadelphia in May 1887” (Euchner, and Maltese 2). Our forefathers were faced with many hard decisions that would have repercussions for the next two centuries. One of the most perplexing problems facing them was the question of how to elect a president. They had to choose from three main systems: elect the president by congress, the people, or electors. There was much debate over this topic in the constitutional convention until eventually the Electoral College system was chosen to elect our president. The Electoral College system has been in place for over 200 years and most Americans are still not sure how it works or if it is the best system. With the 2000 presidential election it became very clear that most US citizens have little understanding of how our president is chosen. The Electoral College is just barely surviving and is under more and more attack all the time. This paper will discuss the presidential election process, its pros and cons, legal aspects, and propose an idea that would improve our current system so it better reflects the will of the people. It is generally a generally accepted fact that our forefathers felt the best system of electing the president was to allow congress do it. However, if congress was to elect the president, then the president might feel obliged to help congress pass certain laws by not vetoing them. Not only would this would seriously undermine the system of checks and balances already established by the constitutional convention, but it could also open to flood gates for corruption within the US political system. This was the main reason that the delegates chose not to let congress elect the president.Most of the attendees of the constitutional convention did not believe in the direct vote system, b...
