The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President

Richly detailed and propelled by clear, thoughtful analysis, this comprehensive biography by Harvard constitutional-law scholar Feldman (Cool War) traces the arc of Madison’s career from his early influence on the Constitution through his role as cofounder of the Democratic-Republican Party to his tenure as America’s fourth president. In addressing each of Madison’s distinct “public lives,” Feldman situates his subject within a particular historical moment, while also attending to his complex relationships with Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and other key thinkers of the early republic. Madison emerges as an intense, introverted figure: his social awkwardness hardly endeared him to the public and his strongly held political beliefs often pushed him into conflict with former allies. Yet as Feldman shows, Madison’s deep concern for liberty and the potential danger of faction also enabled him to change his mind on crucial issues, including the power of a centralized government. In addition to his well-developed portrait of Madison, Feldman offers lucid readings of founding documents such as The Federalist papers, reinterpreting these texts with a fresh perspective informed by close attention to language and the law. With its lively prose and political acumen, this biography will be of interest to general-history readers and scholars alike. [em]Agent: Andrew Wylie, Wylie Agency. (Nov.) [/em]