Jesse Wegman

So I think Wilson himself is really at the heart of giving the federal government the power that it has today.

Well, this is how I came to Wilson in the first place.

I was writing my book on the Electoral College and I was looking through the notes of the Constitutional Convention, James Madison's notes.

to find when was the moment that the electoral colleges adopted.

And here's this guy, this long-winded Scott, who keeps saying things that sound more like they come from our era than his own, and saying, you know, the president should be a single person, which was not at the time fully agreed upon, and that he should be elected directly by the people.

When Wilson says this about the president being a single person—

James Madison records what he calls a considerable pause in the room.

You know, the other delegates are sitting there basically shifting in their seats.

Nobody's very comfortable at this prospect.

You know, they don't want to have another tyrant like King George there.

And they're also sitting right there in front of another George, George Washington, who is widely understood to be the frontrunner for any sort of executive office that might be created.

So everyone's feeling awkward at that moment.

Wilson is not at all.

He says this is obvious.

Of course, we need a single executive who has the power to carry out his duties.

And he should be elected directly by the people because anyone who's that powerful –

needs to be in direct connection to the people over whom he has that power.

If he's not, there will be problems.

So Wilson basically is the first person to argue for a direct popular vote for president, which is what we still talk about today.

He's saying it in 1787.