Federalist No. 70

Federalist No. 70, titled “The Executive Department Further Considered,” is an essay written by Alexander Hamilton arguing for the unitary executive provided for in the United States Constitution. It was originally published on March 15, 1788 in The New York Packet under the pseudonym Publius as part of The Federalist Papers and as the fourth in Hamilton’s series of eleven essays discussing executive power.

Hamilton argues that unity in the executive branch is a main ingredient for both energy and safety. Energy arises from the proceedings of a single person, characterized by, "decision, activity, secrecy, and dispatch," while safety arises from the unitary executive’s unconcealed accountability to the people.

Before ratifying the Constitution in 1787, the thirteen states were bound by the Articles of Confederation, which authorized the Continental Congress to conduct foreign diplomacy and granted sovereignty to the states. By 1787, both Congress and the states had accumulated considerable debt from the Revolutionary War, but the Articles of Confederation denied Congress the powers of taxation and regulation of foreign and interstate commerce. Alexander Hamilton, along with many other Framers, believed the solution to this and problems of federal law enforcement could be solved with a strong centralized government.

Alexander Hamilton greatly admired the British monarchy, and sought to create a similarly strong unitary executive in the United States. One of the major influences on his thinking was political theorist, Jean-Louis de Lolme who praised the English monarchy for being "sufficiently independent and sufficiently controlled.” In Federalist No. 70, Hamilton cites De Lolme to support his argument that a unitary executive will have the greatest accountability to the people. Hamilton was also inspired by William Blackstone and John Locke, who favored an executive who would act on his own prerogative while maintaining respect for constitutional obligations.Montesquieu, Machiavelli, and Aristotle, all of whom argued for strength in the executive, also served as inspiration for the arguments in Federalist No. 70. In fact, Hamilton’s call for energy in the executive, as described in Federalist No. 70, mirrors Montesquieu’s preference for a “vigor” in the executive.

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