Pacificus-Helvidius Debates

Pacificus-Helvidius Debates

Alexander Hamilton
Pacificus

James Madison
Helvidius

This article is part of a series about James Madison
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The Pacificus-Helvidius Debates were a series of newspaper disputes between American Founding Fathers Alexander Hamilton and James Madison regarding the nature of presidential authority in the wake of George Washington's controversial Proclamation of Neutrality.^[1]

Penned between 1793 and 1794, the debates consisted of seven essays by Hamilton, writing as "Pacificus," and five essays by Madison, writing as "Helvidius," published intermittently in the Philadelphia newspaper, Gazette of the United States. The writings serve as a source on the original intent of the Founding Fathers concerning the exercise of executive war powers and as an early basis for the foreign policy of the United States.