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Summary
Summary
James Madison led one of the most influential and prolific lives in American history, and his story--although all too often overshadowed by his more celebrated contemporaries--is integral to that of the nation. Madison helped to shape our country as perhaps no other Founder: collaborating on the Federalist Papers and the Bill of Rights, resisting government overreach by assembling one of the nation's first political parties (the Republicans, who became today's Democrats), and taking to the battlefield during the War of 1812, becoming the last president to lead troops in combat.
In this penetrating biography, eminent historian Richard Brookhiser presents a vivid portrait of the "Father of the Constitution," an accomplished yet humble statesman who nourished Americans' fledgling liberty and vigorously defended the laws that have preserved it to this day.
Author Notes
Richard Brookhiser is Senior Editor of the National Review and the author of nine books, including Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington; Alexander Hamilton, American; America's First Dynasty: The Adamses, 1735-1918 ; and Gentleman Revolutionary: Gouverneur Morris, the Rake Who Wrote the Constitution . Brookhiser also wrote and hosted the PBS documentary Rediscovering George Washington . He lives in New York City.
Reviews (5)
Kirkus Review
Brookhiser (Right Time, Right Place: Coming of Age with William F. Buckley Jr. and the Conservative Movement, 2009, etc.) explores America's tangled two-party political system and the man instrumental in creating it, James Madison (17511836).The author investigates Madison's transition from ideological framer of the Constitution to a fervent party man who fought against the Federalist party for decades and led his Republican party during its first military foray, the War of 1812. Though he came of age under the influence and tutelage of luminaries like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, Brookhiser's portrayal of Madison grounds him in the backbiting, often inglorious machinations of his contemporary political system; this approach is both significant and refreshing in presenting Madison as a flawed man, rather than a godlike "founding father." The author focuses exclusively on Madison the politician, and thereby exposes some of Madison's less respectablemotivesfor tackling his political enemiesone favored strategy was to enlist vocal, if not always reliable, journalists to spearhead political attacks in the rough-and-tumble world of early American periodicals. This practice, coupled with Madison's lifelong faith in the power of public opinion and his commitment to protect the freedom of the presses, opens an interesting avenue into this early usage of public opinion and blustering journalism to shape public policy. This is a slim volume, noticeably so in a biography of an instrumental man like Madison; as such, there are episodes of both personal and political moment that would greatly benefit from additional context and analysis. How, for example, could two such close allies, Madison and the fiery Alexander Hamilton, find themselves at opposite ends of a bitter political feud over the role of central government? What was at stake, other than a rather parochial land lust, for Madison and Jefferson as they pursued western expansion? How did Dolley Madison, historically recognized as the first "political wife," contribute to his politics and his personal life?A useful introduction to a man who is often outshone by his presidential predecessors but who nevertheless was instrumental in creating our modern political system.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The Constitution is never far from current political discussions, particularly during position-jockeying among candidates in the two-year period before a presidential election. The name James Madison often arises in those discussions, due to his high regard as the father of the Constitution and, given his detailed notetaking during the Constitutional Convention, the authority on what the Founding Fathers had in mind when composing that seminal yet elusive document. Brookhiser, whose several previous books about the revolutionary period include Alexander Hamilton, American (1999), supplies an opportune and cogent estimation of the life and times of the physically small but politically sizable Madison. We see him as the early anti-George Washington; the great and hallowed first president remained above partisan politics, but Madison dove in up to his eyeballs. The pages devoted to Madison's role in the writing and adoption of the Constitution are the most interesting, even though Madison was chief executive for two terms and saw the Capitol and White House burned in the War of 1812. A worthy addition for early-republic American history collections.--Hooper, Bra. Copyright 2010 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
NO one would ever have mistaken James Madison for George Washington. Short, scrawny and sickly, he suffered from a hypochondria that convinced him he would lead neither a long nor a healthy life. He was a miserable public speaker who tended to lapse into inaudible mumbling, and well into his career as a politician, he continued to shrink back in horror at the idea of going out on the stump and putting on "an electioneering appearance." True, he had a powerful intellect, but compared with that of his more urbane friend and neighbor Thomas Jefferson, Madison's intellectual appetite, fixed as it was on political history and theory, seemed narrow, circumscribed. All in all, he would be an unlikely candidate for success in our own, media-dominated political world. Perhaps a professor of history or political theory at a university that didn't require much teaching. But one of the most influential politicians of his generation? Hardly. Richard Brookhiser, a senior editor at National Review and the author of 10 previous books, sees beyond the man's personal frailties in "James Madison." For Brookhiser, Madison was "the Father of Politics. He lived in his head, but his head was always concerned with making his cherished thoughts real." This Madison is no ivory tower pedant but, rather, a relentless and immensely successful politician who put all of his heavy-duty thinking to good use. Despite his pessimistic predictions about his longevity, Madison lived to the age of 85. From the time that he graduated from Princeton in 1771 until his retirement from the presidency in 1817, he devoted himself to politics and, in particular, to the building of the American nation. In this short, breezily written biography, Brookhiser attempts to cover all of the major events of Madison's public career. This is no small feat, for Madison was involved in nearly every political controversy and decision of his age: he was Thomas Jefferson's indispensable ally in the struggle for religious liberty in revolutionary Virginia; he served tirelessly as a delegate to the Continental Congress during the most trying years of the Revolutionary War; he is deservedly remembered as "the Father of the Constitution"; he was the principal, albeit reluctant, author of what would become our federal Bill of Rights; as the prime organizer of the Jeffersonian Republican Party, he was in many ways the inventor of the very idea of a modern party system; he served as President Jefferson's secretary of state and most trusted adviser; finally, as a wartime president, Madison had to endure not only the burning of Washington, but also conflict and intrigue within his own party and beyond. The amount of scholarship chronicling these events is immense, and although Brookhiser is somewhat sparing in acknowledging his debts to historians who have preceded him, his sprightly narrative will serve as an entertaining introduction for those who are making their first acquaintance with Madison. Moreover, Brookhiser's book is a useful corrective to some of the recent works in the fields of political science and law that place excessive emphasis on Madison the theorist. While Brookhiser respects the quality of Madison's intellect, he is more interested in Madison the politician, less concerned with the consistency of Madison's thought than with Madison's skill as an activist. As an avid observer of the hyperpartisan political environment of our own age, Brookhiser uses Madison's often tumultuous career to remind us that day-to-day politics have never been very pretty. Anyone involved in the political wars as long and as relentlessly as Madison was surely bound to make a few missteps, and a few enemies, along the way. But Brookhiser effectively argues that Madison, by melding his knowledge of political theory with shrewd political instincts, deserves a place close to the top of the list of America's most successful politicians. Richard Beeman's books include "Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution" and "The Penguin Guide to the United States Constitution."
Choice Review
Brookhiser's short but comprehensive work celebrates the remarkable life of the most unsung of the Founding Fathers, James Madison. Choosing breadth rather than depth, Brookhiser's narrative centers on Madison as the "father of American politics" as opposed to his more understood identity as a prolific author and philosophical thinker. The author asserts that the father of the Constitution succeeded equally as a political manueverer and backroom dealmaker, driving the creation of the first US political party, often using unsavory tactics to smear his political opponents. Brookhiser also astutely portrays Madison as a flawed individual, highlighting the missteps of his presidency and his vacillation on the slavery issue later in his life. This volume is crafted more for general readers than political scholars. It is sparsely footnoted and makes little effort at insightful academic analysis or pursuit of an innovative thesis. Moreover, the text commits to chronicling Madison's exploits as a political choreographer at the cost of biographical anecdotes about the man underneath the savvy party protagonist. Regardless, Brookhiser continues his noteworthy success at effectively encapsulating the accomplished lives of the nation's founders concisely in pragmatic, well-written volumes. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. B. A. Wineman Marine Corps University
Library Journal Review
Having once remarked that "if men were angels, no government would be necessary," James Madison lived a life dedicated to establishing a government that would both check the passions of the public and usher in the "rule of law." Much more than a minion of Jefferson, he was a true politico who understood the value of enlightened public opinion, the utility of an effective partisan press, and the necessity of political compromise. Having previously examined the "Holy Trinity" of the Federalist Party (Washington, Hamilton, and Adams), Brookhiser (senior editor, National Review; Alexander Hamilton, American) turns his relaxed and accessible writing style to the oracle of American constitutionalism and "father of modern politics." VERDICT While Brookhiser underestimates Madison's more radical ideas in an effort to claim him as a prize for modern conservatives, he has produced an exceptional synopsis of the essential founder's political life. Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg's recent, outstanding Madison and Jefferson provides a much more in-depth biographical account, but Brookhiser gives fans of the Revolutionary generation and those interested in the origins of American politics an engaging and succinct narrative.-Brian Odom, Pelham P.L., AL (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| A Note on Spelling and Usage | p. ix |
| Acknowledgments | p. xi |
| Introduction | p. 1 |
| 1 Youth, Revolution | p. 15 |
| 2 The Constitution | p. 37 |
| 3 The Federalist, The Bill of Tights | p. 61 |
| 4 The First Political Party | p. 85 |
| 5 Leading an Opposition | p. 109 |
| 6 Wilderness Years | p. 129 |
| 7 In Power | p. 147 |
| 8 Problems of Power | p. 165 |
| 9 President | p. 181 |
| 10 War Reader | p. 201 |
| 11 Retirement, Death | p. 223 |
| Epilogue Legacy | p. 247 |
| Notes | p. 251 |
| Bibliography | p. 267 |
| Index | p. 271 |
