Despite the opinion of Alexander Hamilton that the Electoral College was the only part of the Constitution to escape criticism, few clauses in the Constitution have been subjected to more consistent and withering criticism than the Electoral College. This book explores the people and events that shaped America's unique form of choosing a chief executive from its birth in 1787 to the present-telling the story through the eyes of the people who lived it. Rather than some dry constitutional law review, the stories include murders, duels, shootouts, corruption, greed, teenage elopement, and a secret midnight ride in the back of a mail carriage to save the Constitution. The heroes of these stories range from household names like George Washington, to lesser-known Americans like James Watson, a former slave who gave his life for the privilege of casting his vote. All combined, they help us understand why, after two-and-a-half centuries of criticism and elections where the popular vote did not align with the result, the Electoral College endures

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