Books with author L. E. Johnson

The dispute over the Electoral College goes back to the beginning of the American republic. James Madison and James Monroe were among the delegates who attended the 1788 Virginia convention called to decide whether that state should ratify the United States Constitution proposed by the Constitutional Convention the preceding year. Monroe objected to what was later called the Electoral College, stating that this unusual institution would make the president dependent upon the state governments instead of the people. Madison, who had been a leading member of the Constitutional Convention, replied that the mode of presidential election adopted at that time was judged most expedient until experience should point out one more eligible. Far from being a firmly settled matter, Madison implicitly suggested that a constitutional amendment abolishing the Electoral College in favor of direct popular vote might someday be warranted. The present book asks whether that day has now arrived. The election of 2016 resulted in an Electoral College victory for Donald J. Trump. He lost the popular vote, however, by almost three million votes. Never before had there been such a disparity between a presidential winner's electoral and popular votes. Although popular votes cast in a presidential election are not purely representative of what a candidate's popular vote would have been in the absence of the Electoral College, that statistic is a kind of heuristic that provides significant information. Some commentators treat the Electoral College as the equivalent of holy writ. This book begins with the debates in the Constitutional Convention, showing the many different views that were expressed by the delegates and how the Electoral College evolved into the version embodied in the original Constitution. Their discussions indicated that this institution was designed to prevent demagoguery and foreign influence. The founders thought the electors, who were presumed to have more knowledge, wisdom, and integrity than the general voters, would independently deliberate and choose the president without reference to the views of ordinary people. This original concept was defeated by the rise of political parties and democratic politics, culminating in the fateful elections of 2000 and 2016, when the losers of the popular vote won the electoral vote and therewith the presidency. The book then evaluates the current operation of the winner-take-all Electoral College and explains why—contrary to the mantra of many of its defenders—it is essentially different from the Electoral College conceived by the American founders. Major alternatives, other than direct popular vote, are analyzed. The final chapter sets forth the legal text of a proposed constitutional amendment for direct popular vote with instant runoff voting and explains, in layperson's language, what those provisions mean. It also discusses the advantages of such a system and responds to anticipated criticisms of the proposed amendment. The argument is often made that a constitutional amendment abolishing the Electoral College has no chance of being adopted by Congress and ratified by the states. Times change, however, and what seems impossible today may not be impossible tomorrow—especially if we have several more elections in which the electoral vote winner is the popular vote loser.

A real princess is coming to Olivia’s town! And when Olivia and Princess Stephanie meet, they realize they look very much alike…so much so that they trade places. Princess Stephanie will go home to Olivia’s house, and Olivia will spend the day in the castle! Enjoy the royal treatment with Olivia in this beautiful book with intricate pop-up windows and pull-tabs that allow readers to interact with the story. Oliva is thrilled to learn a real-life princess will visit her town. When Princess Stephanie shows up, she and Olivia meet and realize they look almost exactly alike! Hilarity ensues in this charming story, a retelling of the special tentpole episode that’s sure to be a huge hit!

In 1916, to the shock of the scientific community and the world at large, a Florida geologist discovered human remains mixed with the bones of prehistoric animals in a Vero Beach canal and proclaimed that humans had lived in North America since the Ice Age. These new findings by Elias Sellards flew in the face of prevailing wisdom, which held that humans first came to the continent only 6,000 years ago. His claim was snubbed by the top scientists of his day, he was laughed out of the state, Vero's fame declined, and the skull Sellards found--famously known as "Vero Man "--was lost.An Ice Age Mystery tells the story of Sellards's exciting find and the controversy it sparked. In the years that followed, other archaeological discoveries and the rise of radiocarbon dating established that humans did arrive in North America earlier than previously thought. The skull, however, was never recovered, and many people began to wonder: What exactly had Sellards found at Vero? And what else might be buried there? One hundred years after the first Vero discovery, construction plans threatened to cover up the legendary dig site, and a band of citizens and archaeologists protested. Excavations were reopened. Archaeologists uncovered 14,000-year-old burnt mammal bones and charcoal, signs of a human presence, and found further evidence to indicate a continuous human occupation of the site for several thousand years. Prior to the latest excavations an etching on a bone possibly 13,000 years old was discovered that could be the oldest piece of art in America. Sellards had been right all along.Many questions still remain. Who were these people? Where did they come from? And how did they get here? This book draws readers into the past, present, and future of one of the most historic discoveries in American archaeology.

Support victims of Hurricanes and other Natural Disasters. For Every Book sold, $1 will be donated to The American National Red Cross in support of natural disaster victims. If you wish to give more, you can do so at redcross.org/donate or see list in book for other non-profit organizations.Hurricanes are powerful, scientifically intriguing, potentially destructive and an integral part of this planet's environment. Knowledge, not fear, is the best way to approach such a formidable force of nature. Time has shown that science-based understanding and appreciation of natural disasters greatly reduces the number of disaster victims.Use Hurricane 2017 as an introductory guide for you and your children to better understand this incredible, natural phenomena.

Just because everyone else thinks you should be over it, doesn’t mean you are Last year, Sarah’s best friend, Jamie, died in a freak accident. Back then, everyone was sad; now they’re just ready for Sarah to get over it and move on. But Sarah’s not ready. She can’t stop reliving what happened, struggling with guilt, questioning the meaning of life, and missing her best friend. Her grades are plummeting, her relationships are falling apart, and her normal voice seems to have been replaced with a snark box. Life just seems random: no pattern, no meaning, no rules—and no reason to bother. In a last-ditch effort to pull it together, Sarah befriends Jamie’s twin brother, Emmett, who may be the only other person who understands what she’s lost. And when she gets a job working for the local eccentric who owns a Christmas tree farm, she finally begins to understand the threads that connect us all, the benefit of giving people a chance, and the power of love.

Kids have wild imaginations: monsters under their beds, ghosts, the boogeyman, and everything in between.But sometimes, you have to stop and suspend your disbelief for a minute. The unthinkable may just be true for once.Iggy Risner is your typical wise-cracking twelve-year-old. When his younger brother, Oz, wakes him in the middle of the night claiming he heard a monster in the attic, Iggy takes him upstairs to prove him wrong. But instead of a flesh-eating beast, they discover hundreds of their plastic toy dinosaurs that have mysteriously come to life.When the dinos escape the attic and start terrorizing young kids in the neighborhood and trampling flower beds, somehow Iggy, Oz, and their friends must catch the plastic dinos of doom before the damage escalates. But what do you do when your parents doubt your story, and a group of clueless neighborhood bullies stand in the way?For Iggy and Oz, catching the little beasts may prove to be easier said than done.Iggy & Oz - The Plastic Dinos of Doom will make your child's imagination soar and make the hair behind their necks stand on end as they read on.Order your copy today and get in on the adventure!