10/11/2021
Cost (The Price of Greatness), a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, takes an in-depth look at James Madison’s political theories. Cost sheds light on Madison’s education at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton) under Presbyterian minister John Witherspoon; writings such as the 1785 essay “Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments,” which called for the “complete disestablishment of the Church of Virginia and unconditional toleration of all sects”; and his push for a “massive increase in federal power” at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Elected to Congress in 1789, Madison advocated for the Bill of Rights, helped create the Republican Party (later known as the Democrat-Republican Party), and opposed Alexander Hamilton’s plan for the Bank of the United States. Detailing Madison’s handling of the War of 1812 as president and his rebuttal of claims that states had the power to annul federal laws during the 1832 Nullification Crisis, Cost contends that Madison viewed republican politics as the answer to the essential problems of government. Though he treads familiar ground and occasionally overstuffs the account, Cost effectively reconciles Madison’s well-documented contradictions under the banner of his commitment to “fair play” and “the search for common ground among factions.” The result is a solid intellectual biography of one of America’s most consequential founders. (Nov.)
Cost (The Price of Greatness, 2018) emphasizes Madison’s role as politician, founder of the Democratic-Republican party, and a man of profound principle who shepherded the Bill of Rights to ratification, but who understood the necessity for change and compromise, such as his reversal on the issue of a national bank.”—Booklist
“A vivid account of Madison’s energetic efforts…Cost’s book deserves high marks as a skillful study of an iconic historical figure.” —Kirkus
'Cost effectively reconciles Madison’s well-documented contradictions...a solid intellectual biography of one of America’s most consequential founders.”—Publishers Weekly
"In this profound and clarifying biography, Jay Cost shows how some familiar Madisonian contradictions can be reconciled by grasping that James Madison’s practice of politics was devoted to the same great cause as his theories of politics: the challenge of reconciling differences in a diverse republic. That is very much our challenge now, and this is a book with much to teach today’s America."—Yuval Levin, author of A Time to Build
Jay Cost, whose University of Chicago PhD in political philosophy has been supplemented by years of close attention to Washington politics, is the perfect person to decipher Madison’s long career in the public arena. It involved many supposed, but few actual, contradictions. The most intellectually supple and sophisticated of the Founders, Madison exemplified, more than any major political thinker ever has, the unity of theory and practice: His political thinking informed his political vocation, which required continuous accommodation of principles to realities.—George F. Will, author of The Conservative Sensibility
“An exciting new examination of the life and work of James Madison. Politicians are often maligned, but Jay Cost shows how Madison’s celebrated role as a constitutional founder was an extension of his larger career as a politician and a life spent trying to make the republican experiment in self-government work.”—Keith E. Whittington, author of Repugnant Laws: Judicial Review of Acts of Congress from the Founding to the Present.
“Historians have long characterized Madison as waffling or inconsistent—sometimes postulating multiple Madisons. Without sugarcoating, Jay Cost gives us a ‘single’ unified Madison who was the ‘Republican’ mean between Hamiltonian and Jeffersonian extremes—or, as Cost puts it, 'the first great American politician.' Madison fans and detractors alike will enjoy this riveting overview of his life and amazing career.”—Randy E. Barnett, Professor, Georgetown Law, and author of Our Republican Constitution: Securing the Liberty and Sovereignty of We the People
2021-08-28
An admiring biography of America’s fourth president.
James Madison (1751-1836) is known as the “Father of the Constitution.” Madison agreed—but only in retirement. The son of an influential planter and already a widely admired Virginia leader, he arrived in Philadelphia in 1787 with plans for a fundamental redesign of American government. Cost delivers a vivid account of Madison’s energetic efforts, followed by his role in the first Congress. Under his shrewd political leadership, that body produced tax laws and the Bill of Rights, among other significant accomplishments. “If Madison had suddenly dropped dead on September 29, 1789,” writes Cost, “he would still be remembered as one of the greatest Founding Fathers.” He did not, of course, and opposed Alexander Hamilton’s plans for a national bank, a national assumption of state debts, and policies to encourage industry (topics the author covered in his 2018 book, The Price of Greatness). Other historians claim that Madison reversed himself to become a Jeffersonian advocate of minimal government. However, Cost maintains that Madison remained consistent in affirming that government must ensure that its benefits were distributed equally. He opposed Hamilton’s proposals because they favored a privileged class. Jeffersonian ideals triumphed with the 1800 election, and Madison, serving as Jefferson’s secretary of state, enjoyed smooth sailing. By the time Madison became president in 1809, Hamilton was gone, but his realistic view of America’s place in the world trumped Jefferson’s virtuous, agrarian republic, which had no hope of dealing with powerful Britain. Unprepared for war in 1812, the U.S. bumbled through, but according to Cost, Madison showed his usual political acumen. Financing the war proved almost impossible, so he authorized a national bank. He supported internal improvements and the first protective tariff, co-opting Hamilton’s best economic ideas to lay the groundwork for America’s explosive growth.
One of many Madison biographies, Cost’s book deserves high marks as a skillful study of an iconic historical figure.
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
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
