James Madison is remembered primarily as a systematic political theorist, but he was also a practical politician who strove for balance in an age of revolution. Broadwater focuses on Madison's role in the battle for religious freedom in Virginia, his contributions to the adoption of the Constitution, his place in the evolution of the party system, his relationship with Dolley Madison, his performance as a wartime commander-in-chief, and his views on slavery. No single figure can tell us more about the origins of the ...
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James Madison is remembered primarily as a systematic political theorist, but he was also a practical politician who strove for balance in an age of revolution. Broadwater focuses on Madison's role in the battle for religious freedom in Virginia, his contributions to the adoption of the Constitution, his place in the evolution of the party system, his relationship with Dolley Madison, his performance as a wartime commander-in-chief, and his views on slavery. No single figure can tell us more about the origins of the American republic than our fourth president. In these pages, Madison emerges as a remarkably resilient politician and an unlikely wartime leader who survived repeated setbacks in the War of 1812 with his popularity intact. Yet Broadwater shows that, despite his keen intelligence, the more Madison thought about race, the more muddled his thinking became, impeding his ability to grapple with the dilemma of American slavery.
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