James Madison, Jeff Broadwater
James Madison, Jeff Broadwater
2 Rating(s)
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James Madison
A Son of Virginia and a Founder of the Nation

Author: Jeff Broadwater

Narrator: Johnny Heller

Unabridged: 9 hr 23 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/19/2012

Synopsis

James Madison is remembered primarily as a systematic political theorist, but this bookish and unassuming man was also a practical politician who strove for balance in an age of revolution. In this biography, Jeff Broadwater focuses on Madisons role in the battle for religious freedom in Virginia, his contributions to the adoption of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, 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. From Broadwaters perspective, 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 one issueracethe more muddled his thinking became, and his conviction that white prejudices were intractable prevented him from fully grappling with the dilemma of American slavery.

About Jeff Broadwater

Jeff Broadwater is a professor of history in the School of Humanities at Barton College. He is the author of several works, including Eisenhower and the Anti-Communist Crusade, Adlai Stevenson and American Politics: The Odyssey of a Cold War Liberal, and James Madison: A Son of Virginia and a Founder of the Nation. His book George Mason: Forgotten Founder won the Richard Slatten Award for Excellence in Virginia Biography from the Virginia Historical Society and was rated by the Washington Post as one of the best biographies of 2006.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jeff

This was not a full biography of Madison, more a picture and examination of a few critical moments in his storied career as a leader, legislator, and President. Still, it is a very good book, and for me has given me a wish to learn more. The early Presidents, the Fab 5, as it were, with the exceptio......more

Goodreads review by Paul

Insightful book on the times and tribulations of James Madison, arguably the most important of the Founding Fathers, as his writing helped frame all parts of the US system of governance. The book mostly deals with the political, diplomatic and military issues of his day, and how his keen insights int......more

Goodreads review by Andy

Pretty average biography of a pretty average president. I like that rapper version of Madison better. War of 1812 stuff was interesting. He definitely turned his logic inside out over and over on slavery including the whole 3/5ths of a person thing. Toward the end it was interesting in his unofficial......more

Goodreads review by Joanie

What can I say, but that there was a great deal more politics than I was looking for in this book. I was more interested in his personal life and the human interest side. I may have even skimmed some of the chapters on his work in Congress. But as the book pointed out, James Madison didn’t really ha......more

Goodreads review by Don

This looks like a biography, but it's really more of political analysis of Madison's contributions to the founding of the country. As such, it's concise and clearly written. Of the many founding concepts that have made our country such a success, the majority of them came out of Madison's head. The......more

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