The founding fathers were influenced by Baron de Montesquieu ideas on the tripartite system, when they elaborated the drafts of the U.S. Vonstitution, basically, regarding the separation of powers.
Baron de Montesquieu(1689-1795) established a division of political presence. He considered a clear division of government bodies: a Legislature, an Executive, and a Judiciary.
The influence of this model is from the Roman Republic Constitution and the British Constitution. With this separation of powers, none of them by themselves could become an absolute power.
That is the case with the U.S. Constitution. James Madison, attracted by Montesquieu principles, prevent the corruption of power establishing the same principle but in the U.S. case, with a legislature(Congress), with a presidency(President), and the judiciary(the Supreme Court).
