Article 2, Section 2, Clauses 2 and 3

Document 36

Luther Martin, Genuine Information

To that part of this article also, which gives the President a right to nominate, and with the consent of the senate to appoint all the officers, civil and military, of the United States, there were considerable opposition--it was said that the person who nominates, will always in reality appoint, and that this was giving the President a power and influence, which together with the other powers, bestowed upon him, would place him above all restraint or controul. In fine, it was urged, that the President as here constituted, was a KING, in every thing but the name; that though he was to be chosen for a limited time, yet at the expiration of that time if he is not re-elected, it will depend entirely upon his own moderation whether he will resign that authority with which he has once been invested--that from his having the appointment of all the variety of officers in every part of the civil department for the union, who will be very numerous--in them and their connexions, relations, friends and dependants, he will have a formidable host devoted to his interest, and ready to support his ambitious views. That the army and navy, which may be encreased without restraint as to numbers, the officers of which, from the highest to the lowest, are all to be appointed by him, and dependant on his will and pleasure, and commanded by him in person, will, of course, be subservient to his wishes, and ready to execute his commands; in addition to which, the militia also are entirely subjected to his orders--That these circumstances, combined together, will enable him, when he pleases, to become a King in name, as well as in substance, and establish himself in office not only for his own life, but even if he chooses, to have that authority perpetuated to his family.

The Founders' Constitution
Volume 4, Article 2, Section 2, Clauses 2 and 3, Document 36
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a2_2_2-3s36.html
The University of Chicago Press

Storing, Herbert J., ed. The Complete Anti-Federalist. 7 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981.

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