Jesse Wegman has been a member of the New York Times editorial board since 2013, writing editorials on the Supreme Court, democracy reform, and legal affairs. He graduated from New York University School of Law in 2005 and currently teaches a seminar there on writing about the law for general audiences. Let the People Pick the President is Jesse’s first book that makes a powerful case for abolishing the antiquated and anti-democratic Electoral College and choosing presidents based on a national popular vote.
Political passions are already high, and they will reach a boiling point as we enter the 2020 race. In Let the People Pick the President, Jesse uncovers the Electoral College’s controversial origins, profiles the many attempts to reform it over the years, and explains why it is now essential for us to remove this obsolete system and finally make every citizen’s vote matter. Addressing objections from both sides of the aisle, he presents an airtight argument that moving toward a national popular vote would reduce voter apathy and political polarization, increase voter turnout, and restore belief in our democratic system. Abolishing the Electoral College is the keystone reform that must be accomplished to improve our politics. This once-lofty goal can be achieved, and Jesse charts a path to accomplishing it.
Jesse was previously a senior editor at the Daily Beast and Newsweek, a legal news editor at Reuters, and the managing editor of the New York Observer. From 1997 through 2002, he was a producer and reporter for several National Public Radio programs.
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 Let the People Pick the PresidentThe Case for Abolishing the Electoral College
All Points Books
In Let the People Pick the President, New York Times editorial board member Jesse Wegman makes a powerful case for abolishing the antiquated and antidemocratic Electoral College, and choosing presidents based on a national popular vote. He uncovers the Electoral College's controversial origins, profiles the many attempts to reform it over the years, and explains why it is now essential for us to remove this obsolete system and finally make every citizen's vote matter. |
Listen to Jesse Wegman discuss the electoral college on “The Daily” podcast.
Read Jesse’s op-ed in The New York Times on how the electoral college will destroy America.
Listen to Jesse on the podcast Across the Margin.
Read an interview with Jess from The Atlantic.
Listen to Jesse Wegman on NPR’s “Fresh Air” podcast.
Check out Newsweek’s invigorating Q&A with Jesse Wegman.
Watch Jesse Wegman in conversation with Adam Liptak with Politics and Prose’s virtual event.
Let the People Pick the President reviewed by the New York Times.
Check out an excerpt from the New York Times from Let the People Pick the President.
New York Times names Let the People Pick the President as one of “13 Books to Watch For in March.”
Jesse Wegman responds to letters on the Electoral College on New York Times.
Watch Jesse’s closing remarks at the Electoral College Symposium at Harvard Law School (1:12:15).
The Kyiv Post featured Jesse’s article on the connections between Trump and Russia.
Watch Jesse on MSNBC’s “The Last Word” speak on Rosestein and Trump.
Read his article in the Salt Lake Tribune on Col. Vindman and Trump.
New York Times hires Jesse as new editorial-board writer.
Read his articles for the New York Times and follow him on Twitter.
—Annette Gordon-Reed, author of The Hemingses of Monticello
“Jesse Wegman is exactly the right person at the right time to take on the Electoral College. This is the timeliest of subjects and Wegman adds much to our understanding of this curious institution.”
—Jeffrey Toobin, author of The Nine
“Jesse Wegman’s urgent and ultimately irrefutable call to action is the most readable and fully informed explanation of how the Electoral College is wrecking America’s great experiment in government of, by, and for the people. It’s not too late to rescue our democracy from destruction. But it soon will be. Wegman makes a compelling case that we must act now—and he explains what to do.”
—Laurence H. Tribe, Carl M. Loeb University Professor, Harvard Law School
“Wegman combines in-depth historical analysis and insight into contemporary politics to present a cogent argument that the Electoral College violates America’s ‘core democratic principles’ and should be done away with…this urgent and lucidly presented plea for change will resonate with progressives.”
—Publishers Weekly
"A methodical, well-reasoned compilation of arguments on a pertinent subject; recommended for readers interested in historical and contemporary U.S. politics."
—Library Journal
"Throughout, the author's confidence in his argument shines through...An illuminating history and analysis."
—Kirkus