The Founders' Blog

July 20, 1789

congratulate you on one essential point gained which will give a tone to our National Government, I mean the power of removing from Office in the President, you have seen by the papers what a struggle we had in the house on this question, but we had the happiness of a large majority in favour of it, but in the Senate, the struggle was much more important for beside the bugbear of Tyranny it had to encounter, it had the more feeling sensation of what they called a deprivation of their own power to combat; the Senate divided equaly and our worthy Vice President turned the scale, I confess I would not give a groat for the Executive part of the Constitution without such power, if there be evil in Government, responsibility ought to be so center'd in a focus as We know where to find it, &c., inter nos, Mr. Strong and myself were obliged to use some pains with his Brother Senator [Dalton] the morning before the decision to be on the right side, as We knew by counting noses the whole would depend on his becoming a convert-- ;and happyly [lined out] his conversion was effected, as I presume by the weight of Argument.