The Electoral College was perhaps the least successful
element of the U.S. Constitution. (And not unexpectedly, modifications
to the Electoral College process came quickly). The Founders did not
want the public to directly elect the President, since previous
experiments in direct elections at the state level had reinforced the
conclusion that pure democracy was too dangerous. But the founders
didn't want Congress to elect the President either, because that would
lead to "cabal faction & violence." So the idea was adopted of having influential or "notable" community leaders that were not in Congress as Electors,
with the people voting for these Electors because they believed they
had good judgment. (Excerpt... BTW, DelancyPlace.com is a joy to read every morning...Subscribe and see!)