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Simon & Schuster
February 2015
On Sale: February 10, 2015
ISBN: 145168858X EAN: 9781451688580 Kindle: B00LD1S1WY Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction History
Historian David O. Stewart restores James Madison, sometimes
overshadowed by his fellow Founders, to his proper place as
the most significant framer of the new nation. Short, plain, balding, neither soldier nor orator, low on
charisma and high on intelligence, Madison cared more about
achieving results than taking the credit. To reach his
lifelong goal of a self-governing constitutional republic,
he blended his talents with those of key partners. It was
Madison who led the drive for the Constitutional Convention
and pressed for an effective new government as his patron
George Washington lent the effort legitimacy; Madison who
wrote the Federalist Papers with Alexander Hamilton to
secure the Constitution's ratification; Madison who
corrected the greatest blunder of the Constitution by
drafting and securing passage of the Bill of Rights with
Washington's support; Madison who joined Thomas Jefferson to
found the nation’s first political party and move the nation
toward broad democratic principles; Madison, with James
Monroe, who guided the new nation through its first war in
1812, really its Second War of Independence; and it was
Madison who handed the reins of government to the last of
the Founders, his old friend and sometime rival Monroe.
These were the main characters in his life. But it was his final partnership that allowed Madison to
escape his natural shyness and reach the greatest heights.
Dolley was the woman he married in middle age and who
presided over both him and an enlivened White House. This
partnership was a love story, a unique one that sustained
Madison through his political rise, his presidency, and a
fruitful retirement.
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