Perspective: America Needs a Statesman at the Helm
In 1787 Ben Franklin would say about the presidents who would follow George Washington, “the first man put at the helm will be a good one. Nobody knows what sort may come afterwards. The executive will always be increasing here, as elsewhere, til it ends in monarchy.” When the Constitution was being debated, the Federalists believed that checks and balances—the separation of powers between branches of government, the ability of Congress to override a veto and to impeach, and others—would prevent the United States from returning to monarchy. James Madison, in Federalist number 10, said that the separation of powers would be a check in the event that “enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm.”