system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: In the United States, why are positions like Attorney General, Secretary of State, etc. appointed by the president at the federal level but elected by the people at the state level? Had it ever been proposed to do this differently?
gpt
The federal government was designed to primarily be a representative of the States, while the States would represent the People.

This is apparent in how the Federal Senate was initially chosen by the state legislatures (prior to a constitutional ammendment), and the Electoral College was initially also selected independent of the popular vote (that's screwy ATM because of state-level laws). Indeed, the House of Representatives still gets 0 say in federal nominations, appointments, or treaties.

As the State governments were viewed to be much closer and more relevant to the People, their state constitutions generally reflected this in directly voting in many more positions.