well hey there and welcome back to himler history in this video we're going to look at another one of your required documents for AP Government namely Federalist 70s so if you're ready to get them brain cows milk energetic executive style then let's get to it Federalist 70 written by Alexander Hamilton is all about justifying the need for a single executive or president during the ratification debates of the Constitution Anti-Federalists were deeply distressed by the thought of investing executive power into one guy because such a proposition stank of monarchy their proposal in order to avoid such monarchy was to have several presidents like a council of Executives so that no one of them could usurp power and become a tyrant and so Hamilton comes along in Federalist 70 and says in summary yeah it's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard and then goes on to show why a single executive is the best arrangement for a republic of Freedom first and foremost for Hamilton the executive must be defined by a single quality namely energy he says energy in the executive is a leading character in the definition of good government on the other hand a feeble executive implies a feeble execution of the government now what does Hamilton mean by an energetic executive well he means that a single executive will be able to act quickly and decisively as opposed to the legislative branch which by its very nature is made up of so many representatives which have to debate and compromise and that means it's very deliberate and slow and there are two benefits to this energy first is unity and second is responsibility and with respect to Unity here's what Hamilton says that Unity is conducive to energy will not be disputed decision activity secrecy and dispatch will generally characterize the proceedings of of one man in a much more eminent degree than the proceedings of any greater number and in proportion as the number is increased these qualities will be diminished so what he's saying here is that the more Executives you have the less energy of the office which is to say the executives ability to carry out the demands of the office will be diminished Hamilton then goes on to prove this from history pointing out that in nearly every case of a civilization relying on multiple Executives there arose bitter Division and that means the effectiveness of the office was hindered and that would be a massive problem especially in an emergency or as Hamilton says it if such division should unfortunately assail the Supreme executive magistracy of a country consisting of a plurality of persons they might impede or frustrate the most important measures of the government in the most critical emergencies of the state and what is still worse they might split the community into the most violent and irreconcilable factions adhering differently to the different individuals who compose the magistracy then he goes on to compare the legislature to the executive in the legislative branch its Chief virtue is the multitude of Representatives which requires them to debate issues and deliberate at length before any piece of legislation is passed and those qualities which are great in the legislative branch constantly counteract those qualities in the executive which are the most necessary ingredients in its composition Vigor and Expedition and this without any counterbalancing good so unity and the energy and decisiveness it provides is the first argument for a single executive and then the second argument is about the respon responsibility of the executive a plan for multiple Executives Hamilton argues will conceal faults and Destroy responsibility okay Hamilton tell us what you mean the circumstances which may have led to any national miscarriage or Misfortune are sometimes so complicated that where there are a number of actors who may have had different degrees and kinds of agency though we may see clearly upon the whole that there has been mismanagement yet it may be impracticable to pronounce to whose account the evil which may have been incurred is truly char chargeable in other words if power is abused by the executive branch and there are several Executives it may well be impossible to determine which of those Executives is at fault and therefore who should be held responsible if there is one executive acting like a tyrannical turd then people know exactly who to blame so to summarize despite the potential dangers of monarchical power that might come from a single president it's a single executive who will be able to best discharge the duties of the office with energy and decisiveness and you know if the president ends up corrupt there will be no doubt in the people's mind who they need to replace at the next election okay that's Federalist 70 click right here to grab a review packet if you want help getting an A in your class and a five on your exam in May subscribe if you're not already because that will send me the signal to keep making videos for you till next time I'm Lou