A surprisingly controversial look at how James Madison redefined the United States in each of his three political “lives”
James Madison is revered as “the Father of the Constitution” but rarely described as a radical. Yet Madison fundamentally changed the United States no fewer than three times. As a founder, he invented the Constitution and wrote the Bill of Rights. As a partisan, he co-founded the Democratic-Republican Party and transformed the face of American political rivalry. And as the first wartime president, Madison took the United States to war and won—and also invented economic sanctions as a political weapon along the way. Now Noah Feldman, author of critically acclaimed books on the Supreme Court and U.S.-China relations, presents this Founding Father in a brand-new light.
James Madison is revered as “the Father of the Constitution” but rarely described as a radical. Yet Madison fundamentally changed the United States no fewer than three times. As a founder, he invented the Constitution and wrote the Bill of Rights. As a partisan, he co-founded the Democratic-Republican Party and transformed the face of American political rivalry. And as the first wartime president, Madison took the United States to war and won—and also invented economic sanctions as a political weapon along the way. Now Noah Feldman, author of critically acclaimed books on the Supreme Court and U.S.-China relations, presents this Founding Father in a brand-new light.
