James Madison is sometimes remembered as a man of contradictions. Jay Cost’s biography of the Founding Father and fourth president explores the nuances of “America’s first politician.” With his warm tone, Dan Woren is easy to listen to, and his narration is both serious and accessible, like the author’s style. Cost examines Madison’s extraordinarily productive life—from his pivotal role at the Constitutional Convention to his term as a wartime president. Through a thoroughly modern lens, Madison is shown to be not only a keen intellect, but also a savvy politician who understood when to alter his position on key issues. While Woren’s pace is a bit too languid, his confident tone deftly reflects the subject of this biography. D.B. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
An intellectual biography of James Madison, arguing that he invented American politics as we know it¿
How do you solve a problem like James Madison? The fourth president is one of the most confounding figures in early American history; his political trajectory seems almost intentionally inconsistent. He was both for and against a strong federal government. He wrote about the dangers of political parties in the Federalist Papers and then helped to found the Republican Party just a few years later. This so-called Madison problem has occupied scholars for ages.¿
As Jay Cost shows in this incisive new biography, the underlying logic of Madison's seemingly mixed record comes into focus only when we understand him primarily as a working politician. Whereas other founders split their time between politics and other vocations, Madison dedicated himself singularly to the work of politics and ultimately developed it into a distinctly American idiom. He was, in short, the first American politician.
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How do you solve a problem like James Madison? The fourth president is one of the most confounding figures in early American history; his political trajectory seems almost intentionally inconsistent. He was both for and against a strong federal government. He wrote about the dangers of political parties in the Federalist Papers and then helped to found the Republican Party just a few years later. This so-called Madison problem has occupied scholars for ages.¿
As Jay Cost shows in this incisive new biography, the underlying logic of Madison's seemingly mixed record comes into focus only when we understand him primarily as a working politician. Whereas other founders split their time between politics and other vocations, Madison dedicated himself singularly to the work of politics and ultimately developed it into a distinctly American idiom. He was, in short, the first American politician.
James Madison: America's First Politician
An intellectual biography of James Madison, arguing that he invented American politics as we know it¿
How do you solve a problem like James Madison? The fourth president is one of the most confounding figures in early American history; his political trajectory seems almost intentionally inconsistent. He was both for and against a strong federal government. He wrote about the dangers of political parties in the Federalist Papers and then helped to found the Republican Party just a few years later. This so-called Madison problem has occupied scholars for ages.¿
As Jay Cost shows in this incisive new biography, the underlying logic of Madison's seemingly mixed record comes into focus only when we understand him primarily as a working politician. Whereas other founders split their time between politics and other vocations, Madison dedicated himself singularly to the work of politics and ultimately developed it into a distinctly American idiom. He was, in short, the first American politician.
How do you solve a problem like James Madison? The fourth president is one of the most confounding figures in early American history; his political trajectory seems almost intentionally inconsistent. He was both for and against a strong federal government. He wrote about the dangers of political parties in the Federalist Papers and then helped to found the Republican Party just a few years later. This so-called Madison problem has occupied scholars for ages.¿
As Jay Cost shows in this incisive new biography, the underlying logic of Madison's seemingly mixed record comes into focus only when we understand him primarily as a working politician. Whereas other founders split their time between politics and other vocations, Madison dedicated himself singularly to the work of politics and ultimately developed it into a distinctly American idiom. He was, in short, the first American politician.
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James Madison: America's First Politician
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Product Details
BN ID: | 2940177050195 |
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Publisher: | Hachette Audio |
Publication date: | 11/09/2021 |
Edition description: | Unabridged |
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