The votes of the electoral colleges were generally unanimous in favor
of the government's candidate, yet the odd spectacle has repeatedly
presented itself, of a unanimously elected president being driven out
of the country within a few months by a general revolution.
The constitution authorizes the president to conclude treaties with
the consent of Congress, to appoint certain government officials, to
receive foreign diplomatic representatives, and to grant pardons in
certain cases, and makes him commander-in-chief of the army and navy.
Most of the chief magistrates have not felt themselves hampered,
however, whether in peace or war, by any enumeration of powers in the
constitution, for their ascendancy has generally been such that their
wishes would be complied with and their illegal acts ratified or
ignored by a subservient Congress. President Heureaux so controlled
Congress, the courts, and all public functionaries, that the
government was practically identical with his personality.
The constitution provides that in case of the death, resignation or
disability of the president the Congress shall by law designate the
person who is to act as president until the disability ceases or a new
president is elected, and that if Congress is not sitting the Cabinet
officers are immediately to call a session.
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