we stopped?
In fact, representatives and executives are usually appointed, not elected.
The faceless but competent reps and execs you speak of were/are commissars and the Albert Speers of the world.
In spite of a minority that votes the party line, historically we have voted for the man, starting with George Washington.
The periods when we had more or less faceless leaders are known as Coolidge years or some-such.
We built a durable republic but we are lucky that none of our more charismatic leaders chose to be a usurper.