When was the First Presidential Debate?- A Stan Klos Website
WHEN WAS
THE FIRST US PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE?
That is not an easy question to answer as there were two US Constitutions;
the Articles of Confederation which created the "Perpetual Union"
of the United States and the Constitution of 1787 which formed "The
More Perfect Union".
Under the First Constitution there was only one branch of government, The
United States in Congress Assembled and the first man to hold the office as
President of the United States of America, Samuel Huntington, assumed the
helm when the Continental Congress ceased to exist with the ratification of the
Articles of Confederation on March 1, 1781. The First Office under the
Articles was true to the meaning of the word President, "to preside". In
this one branch government the "Presiding Officer" changed his hats often
from Speaker of the House to Chief Justice to US President
duties depending on the business of the day. Samuel Huntington was referred to
as the President of Congress for legislative matters, typically His
Excellency for judicial matters such as presiding over settling state border
disputes, and President of the United States in Congress Assembled for
duties such as signing military commissions, treaties and receiving foreign
dignitaries. In fact the Treaty signed by King George III in 1784 that
finally ended the War with Great Britain was signed "Under the Great Seal of
The United States of America witnessed our President Thomas Mifflin".
The ratified Articles of Confederation called for an election of the
President of the United States by the delegates of the United States of America
in Congress Assembled. Each of these delegates were elected by the people as we
now do electing members of the Electoral College. There were, however, two MAJOR
exceptions. First
no matter how many delegates a state sent to Independence Hall each
delegation had only one vote on the Presidency and all other matters before The
United States of America in Congress Assembled. So Rhode Island, who has
four electoral votes vs. Pennsylvania twenty-five electoral votes under the
current Constitution, was just as powerful when it came to the election under
the Articles as the Keystone State with one vote each.
Second, since the same Delegates
who elected the President also governed the United States the debates and
campaigns were not held before the people. Debates were conducted before
the United States in Congress Assembled and the letters of the Delegates reflect
many lively exchanges between the candidates.
The first such "electoral" debate occurred on July 9, 1781 due to the
resignation of Samuel Huntington. On this "Presidential Race" historians
really do not know who all the nominees were as Congress met under an oath of
secrecy. What is discerned can only be found in the Official Journals of
the United States in Congress Assembled and through the personal letters of the
Delegates which strangely silent on this first election (i.e. Elias
Boudinot's election in 1782 was particularly heated and many personal letters of
the members record the event). We do know that in July 1781 most of Southern
States were lost to the British (Former Continental Congress President Henry
Middleton of Charleston actually claimed his allegiance to the King after the
fall of Charleston South Carolina) and few committees in 1781 had been
established to run the various segments of the Unicameral US Government.
This meant that the burdens of the office were Herculean with no pay provided
for the "Presiding Officer" of the United States. The office,
consequently, was quite unpopular in 1781 and virtually no men of competence
actively sought the Presidency.
We do know that two members were recruited as candidates, Thomas McKean
and Samuel Johnson. They agreed to run but noted they would only serve
from July 9th, 1781 until the new Congress took office in November of 1781.
McKean added that if the United States of America in Congress Assembled was not
out of session by early October he would have to resign to fulfill his paying
position as Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. This coupled with the actualitythat most Delegates believed the one year US Presidency should be rotated,
each term, between the Southern and Northern States ultimately led to North
Carolinian Johnson's election as former President Huntington was from
Connecticut. The letters of the delegates show, on this particular occasion,
that the debate was over competent candidates explaining
WHY THEY COULD
NOT
SERVE AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES of America in Congress Assembled.
A vast difference from the 2004 election.
Samuel Johnson from North Carolina was duly elected President of the
United States on July 9th, 1781. On July 10th he surprised everyone by turning
down the office of President of the United States of America. President-elect
Samuel Johnson was the only man ever to decline the office after being elected.
The Journals of the United States of America in Congress Assembled records this
on July 10th:
Mr. [Samuel] Johnston having declined to accept the office of
President, and offered such reasons as were satisfactory, the House proceeded
to another election; and, the ballots being taken, the hon. Thomas McKean was
elected.
The reasons for Johnson's refusal to not serve are unclear because at that
time the Journals reflected almost no debate due to the strict Oath of Secrecy.
Some historians claim Samuel Johnson's letter of July 30th 1781 clearly
indicates that he was in no position to accept the Presidency as it offered no
salary:
Having no prospect of being relieved or supplied with money for my
expenses and my disorder, which abated a little on the first approach of warm
weather, returning so as to render me of little use in Congress I left
Philadelphia the 14th, for which I hope I shall be held excusable by this
state.
North Carolina with this decline lost her opportunity to declare one of
her sons held the Presidency of the United States of America in Congress
Assembled.
Even President Thomas McKean who accepted the Presidency on July 10th
wanted to leave before his term ended. Despite Washington's success
in Yorktown and President McKean's public review of the troops and the
colors not with a salute but his hand held over his heart as they paraded
through Philadelphia still did not dissuade his decision to take his seat as
Pennsylvania's Chief Justice and abandon the Presidency. The October 23,
1781 Journals of the United States in Congress Assembled reports:
The secretary laid before Congress a letter from the President in the
words following: Whereupon, Sir: I must beg you to remind Congress, that when
they did me the honor of electing me President, and before I assumed the
Chair, I informed them, that as Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, I should be
under the necessity of attending the Supreme Court of that State, the latter
end of September, or at farthest in October. That court will be held to-day; I
must therefore request, that they will be pleased to proceed to the choice of
another President. "
I am, sir, with much respect, your most obedient humble servant,
Thos. McKean.
This was at first accepted with the vote for a new President being
postponed until the following day. Congress did not elect a new President on the
23rd instead they required McKean to continue his service as President until new
Congress convened in November.
As for the When was the First Presidential Debate under the Constitution of 1787?
Well
most people believe it either started with Lincoln-Douglas or Kennedy-Nixon.
Both are incorrect but that story is for another commentary.
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