It was not
fully accomplished until after the Civil War.
In selecting the candidates to be voted for, the people had still less
power. After Washington's term, candidates had been selected by a
caucus of members of Congress of each party called together at the
seat of government. Since 1800, each President had been influential
in bequeathing the office to his Secretary of State. Virginia, it was
said, had thus been able to retain the Presidency for twenty out of
the twenty-four years during which the Government under the Constitution
had existed. Some claimed that Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe in the
beginning held a conference and agreed upon a protracted retention of
the chief executive position. New York was said to have assisted in
this monopoly of the "mother of Presidents." It had been accomplished
mainly through the caucus system and legislative election. Men like
Hezekiah Niles, editor of the _Register_, now led a revolt against the
"regency at Richmond," and the subordinate "regency at Albany." Niles
claimed that the State Legislatures were created for the purpose of
making laws and not for choosing presidential electors; that in some
cases members were elected far in advance of the presidential election
and could not possibly represent the present wish of the people.
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