James Madison: Father of the Constitution by Alfred Steinberg

The son of a Virginia planter, James Madison was at Princeton when he first became fired with an unshakable dream—the importance of a unified nation with freedom and liberty for all. This persistent idea was later to become the nucleus in his design for a strong national government under the rule of “We the people . . .”

A shy man of twenty-five, but with firm convictions, he was elected to the Virginia legislature and drafted a con­stitution for that state. Elected to the Continental Congress when he was not yet thirty, he served for four years, and later for another two. During this time he was instrumental in calling together a Federal Constitutional Convention, and was master architect in the actual drafting of the Constitution.

Always a champion of liberal causes, Madison had proposed amendments to the Constitution guaranteeing to the people such basic rights as freedom of speech, assembly and worship. When enacted, these amendments became part of the Bill of Rights, the keystone of American democracy.

Masterly in argument, shrewd in controversy, he helped repeal the hated Alien and Sedition Acts that threatened the rights of every American. And as Secretary of State under Jefferson, he was involved in such dramatic events as the Louisiana Purchase and the Hamilton-Burr duel.

As fourth president of the United Stales, Madison fell heir to the strained diplomatic relations with England that culminated in the War of 1812. When the British burned the White House, his wife Dolley saved the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. In 1817 he retired to his Virginia estate where he wrote extensively on public affairs until his death at the age of eighty-five.

A penetrating portrayal of a man whose dedication to freedom helped shape America’s most important document.