The Importance of the Electoral College

What do George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Jack Kennedy, Harry Truman, Woodrow Wilson, Abraham Lincoln, and eight other American Presidents have in common? Each received less than a majority of the votes cast in the election that elevated him into the White House. Nevertheless, the Presidency of the United States has enjoyed wide popularity and legitimacy. Why? Simply, the government of this greatest and freest nation the world has ever known has never aspired to or depended upon the forces of pure democracy.

Yet the question persists in the minds of many: How should Americans select their president? Were the Founding Fathers foolish elitists, or brilliant architects of a system designed to safeguard the American people from both tyranny by majority and tyranny by elites?

With many Democrats and liberals disappointed over the results of the 2000 presidential election, the raging controversies over vote counting in Florida and the victory of President George W. Bush in 2000 has ignited a debate over the legitimacy of our constitutional process for selecting presidents. The question: Should we scrap the Electoral College in favor of the direct election of presidents?

In this timely primer on the electoral process, Dr. George Grant makes the case for the brilliance, wisdom, and continuing necessity of the Electoral College. This book is a must for students, lawyers, statesmen, pastors, and citizens of all ages interested in understanding and defending the providential system of elections bequeathed to us by our Founding Fathers.