James Madison, Founding Father was in my view the real genius behind the birth of the United States of America. Not only was he the intellectual genius behind the idea of a new form of government, “real democracy”, but in addition, Madison was the youngest of all those who dreamed and put together what is known as the Constitution of the United States of America. Madison was only 25 years old in 1776 when America was born, and he led it through the early years of framing the first Constitution and forming a fresh form of democratic government.
James Madison is known as the “Father of our Constitution” because he initially called for the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. He attended every session of that Convention and took notes on every speech. He led the fight for its ratification in his native Virginia, co-authored The Federalist Papers, and shepherded the Bill of Rights through the first Congress, even though he was by far the youngest of the Founding Fathers.
Moreover, Madison formed working relationships with other leaders, such as Washington, Hamilton, and Jefferson and founded the first American political party, the ancestor of the Democratic Party. He married one of the very first politically-minded wives, Dolley Madison, pioneered political journalism, and was a student of popular opinion. More specifically, and importantly, Madison “invented” the two-party system and the check-and-balance understanding of Congressional politics centered in the three branches of government.
After winning the Presidency in 1809 Madison went on to guide America through the various difficulties and upsets leading up to the War of 1812. He was the last President to actually lead troops in battle. Near the close of his life Madison joined with Thomas Jefferson to fulfill the latter’s life-long dream of founding the first American University, the University of Virginia. Together they chose books for its library, planned its curriculum, and before he died Jefferson sent a “valedictory” letter to his friend, James Madison, saying in part:
“The friendship which has subsisted between us, now a half a century, and that harmony of our political principles and pursuits, have been sources for constant happiness to me through that long period…you have been a pillar of support through life. Take care of me when dead, and be sure that I shall leave you my last affections.” Madison died a few years later after trying to help the nation to which he had helped give birth struggle through the slavery issue. Neither he nor others could actually solve that puzzle until Lincoln appeared on the scene. It is, of course, clear that in in a deep sense we have yet to solve that puzzle.
After months, even years, of previous thought and study, Madison put together the outline of what we today know as “The Constitution of the United States of America.” It took months, even years to get the main ideas of this document ratified, but Madison and others persisted in getting it done. In essence, it was Madison’s creation, complete with the three parts of government and majority rule. This three-part “check and balance” system was essentially Madison’s brainchild and it has stood all these years as the centerpiece of our unique form of government.
For those who want to read further I strongly recommend the book James Madison by Richard Brookhiser. I have cherry-picked freely from it in the above remarks. I really do find James Madison to be an extremely remarkable person and the true “inventor” of the American Constitution.
2 responses to “JAMES MADISON, OUR REAL FOUNDING FATHER”
I have always been amazed that the prime source of understanding of just what the constitution was and the American system of government that Madison was proposing were the Federalist papers. They were just a collection of newspaper and magazine articles written by various people, some distinguished, some not. The discussion was not academic or particularly learned but popular. Reasons for acceptance or rejection of the constitution were often simply practical or reactionary without deep thought. On that basis the constitution was discussed and finally accepted! I think America has continued to think in this vein, never having very deep ideological bases for its form of government. Founding us is nothing like the intellectual structure of Marxism or Hitler’s mythic racial doctrines. And never settled, not even by Lincoln after the Civil War, is the question of the nature of the unity of the United States: does a collection of centers of polycentric control of government (the states), by deciding to form a union, thereby give up any right to secede from that union? We have delegated powers to the federal government that legally bind the states to federal responsibilities and allowed latitude of local government to states, counties, citys, and towns; but these have been allowances by local demands rather than established in political theory. We are “e pluribis unum” but only coincidentally. This is why people like Trump can play on the “me first” motive of so many Americans to gain a political base of power.
Having said this, I might speculate, and here I am really speculating, that the 2 party system of Madison might have some origin in Hegelian thinking. Madison is an educated fellow, well read, and his era is defined intellectually, both in Europe and to some degree America (among the educated), by the thought of Hegel. Thus, the various lobbies and interest groups are not formed into many conflicting parties but are collected into two opposing parties that weave back and forth in holding power, the result being an America that is produced by the conflict and resolution of opposing political action. While I do not think Madison was explicitly thinking in an Hegelian manner, I do think Hegel was in the air and productive in the political thought of early Americans.
Well David – fascinating ruminations :O) I prefer to think that Madison was not tainted with Hegelianism, but