I think we are on the cusp of rediscovering James Madison as the next Founding Father to receive a historical makeover (John Adams is the current figure of revisionist inquiry and interest). Madison was the fourth president of the United States and the Father of the Constitution, but what is emphasized in this juvenile biography by Susan Banfield is the fact he was an intellectual. Of course, he followed Thomas Jefferson, the greatest intellectual ever to be President, in the White House, but once you get him out of that immense shadow young readers can understand Madison's greatness.

Banfield covers Madison's early life and initial involvement in politics during the American Revolution, when he became political protégé of Jefferson. After a concise chapter devoted to Madison as the Father of the Constitution, Banfield covers the rise of Madison's political career as a Congressman from Virginia and Secretary of State. His two terms as President are covered in a single chapter called Mr. Madison's War, which obviously makes the War of 1812 the defining event of his Presidency. A final chapter is devoted to Madison as the nation's Elder Statesman, which shows his active involvement in political issues for the two decades after he left the White House.

The result is an informative and readable juvenile biography of James Madison, which provides a balanced treatment of its subject. Banfield provides multiple sub-headings in each chapter, so young readers get a very good idea of the organizational structure of each chapter. I would not characterize this as A First Book to find out about Madison, but more of a second level effort. The book is sparsely illustrated with works contemporary to Madison's lifetime. This particular volume is part of a series from Franklin Watts examining the United States Constitution, the individuals who were present at its creation (E.g., Alexander Hamilton, George Washington), and some of the pivotal issues that are covered in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (e.g., Separation of Church and State, The Right to Bear Arms).

The most obvious strength of the Profiles of the Presidents series is that they are profusely illustrated little books. There are almost four dozen photographs, etchings, and paintings detailing the life and times of James Madison, the fourth President of the United States and the Father of the Constitution. However, this introductory juvenile biography is written by Andrew Santella, a prolific writing of books for children on American history, so this is much more than a picture book about Madison. Santella provides the basic biographical information about Madison but there is clearly an emphasis on his pivotal role in creating the U.S. Constitution and the War of 1812, which dominated his two terms in the White House. This book features a glossary, fast facts about the president, a parallel timeline of world and presidential events, and additional resources for young readers to help them better understand the life and times of Madison. The result is an excellent first biography of Madison, or any other President, for young students. Other biography series are going to provide more information, but this is the better place to start, especially for younger students.

James Madison on Religious Freedom edited by Robert S. Alley is a remarkable work on James Madison's views about religious freedom and how they should play a part in the overall fabric of our government.

James Madison is one of the foremost thinkers of the founding generation of Americans. Though he wasn't much to look at, Madison commanded a library of thought between his ears. Being well educated, (Princeton), he was an avid reader of polictical thought, a great legislator, and framer of the Constitution of the United States of America. But he also wanted the development of civil liberties, adovcating the idea of republicanism, and had the courage to want a moral society. A society that was religious, but not one that was dominated by a State or Central religion... in essence he wanted people to be free to worship as their devotion dictated... a liberty of conscience or a freedom of religious inquiry.

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison along with various others, at that time, worked hard to formulate a Bill of Rights guarenteeing this and other fundamental freedoms. Madison's ideas and actions went far in establishing these freedoms... a fledgling nation needed these freedoms so it would not fall back into the hands of the few and privilaged.

This book works through these aforementioned problems, with prominent historians giving view points of Madison by essays on the various aspects of Madison's thought on religious liberties.
There are selected Madison papers with which we read that gives a better prespective as to how Madison got to where he wanted to be... working the aspect of religious freedom.

We get to look into Madison's mind and find how he thought reading here about Madison's own religion, how he had the courage to doubt in a secular republic, and Madison and the first amendment. I found the book to be fascinating as we get to look inside, through Madison's own writings.

Those wishing to get a better picture of the inner workings of Madison should, without doubt, read this tome and it will clear up a lot about how James Madison worked his way through these times, not unlike what we are dealing with today. More wars, aggravation, and human suffering have come about in the name of religion than anything else mankind has known... the founding fathers knew this... what they came up with is an American tradition, taking these principles and making them work for the good of the people.

This is an excellent and comprehensive work that will fill in blanks, an you'll get a better understanding of Madison.

James Madison on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights by Robert J. Morgan is as the author says a work where, "Madison provided us with an unmistakable key to understanding his thought and actions as a constitutional reformer, when he said that the rights of man are the foundation of just governments, but manknd had deduced only defective superstructures of government as of 1776."

The book is divided into two parts, as such each has chapters grouped according to relevance. Part one labeled Power, with chapters of: To Improve and Perpetuate the Union, A Proper Energy in the Executive, The True Principles of Republican Government, and Supporting and Restraining the Executive.

Part two labeled Rights with chapters of: Political Liberty, A Few Obvious Truths, The Very Essence of Free and Responsible Government, and The Framer's Muse.

James Madison was kind of unique in that he believed in a republican form of government like Thomas Jefferson, but he also became a constitution reformer because he wanted to expand the federal powers, but only, to preserve this republican government as to keep this form of government strong enough to fulfill America's unique destiny. Madison had a very keen grasp, an insight if you will, of the enormous difficulties entailed in creating the office of president and maintaining it over time. This, I believe, was one of the downfalls Madison had with his own Presidency. Madison struggled as President. He believed and would later say, "would any single person be endowed with such singular talents and superior devotion to the common good as to be chosen to excerise power without challenge by his peers."

Madison as with Jefferson were both well read, especially with the European thinkers, Hume, Adam Smith, Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant. With Thomas Paine of Virginia espousing his anti-constitutional views, holding a lot of political backing, Madison at first didn't want the Bill of Rights. But, Madison was a man of reflection, and in order to get a greater backing for the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights was adopted.

This book gives the reader insight into the thinking of Madison, his motives and meanings, and gives us that Madison's political thought as clear and gives us a simple interpretation that Madison speculated very little. The book is well documented and written with an easy readable style and explains Madison.

John Adams and James Madison both believed in the misfortune of history... how would they be remembered... by deeds and the handling of great events.

I have read that there is a second series of the Encyclopedia of Presidents, which I look forward to seeing these informative juvenile biographies redone with better production values. These volumes always look to me like they were printed in the Fifties, which is actually three decades off of the reality. The cover paintings are rather cartoonish and all of the illustrations inside are in black & white so there is able room for improvement in how the book looks. However, if you are looking for information about a particular president, this is a very solid series.

All of the books in the Encyclopedia of Presidents series begin in media res, with a highpoint from the President's career. In the case of James Madison we are talking about his role in American history as the Father of the Constitution. This means that Madison's greatest achievement in life was accomplished long before he was elected President, a truth usually reserved for war hero generals (e.g., Zachary Taylor and James Garfield) and Herbert Hoover (best Secretary of Commerce we have ever had). This is also reflected by the fact that Clinton devotes only two of the book's ten chapters to Madison's two terms in the White House, one for the First Term and the other for the defining event of his Presidency, The War of 1812.

The illustrations are mostly etchings and paintings contemporary to the life of Madison, including a couple of political cartoons, which are always a treat. But the chief strength here is the biographical detail. Clinton does a good job of contextualizing the Constitutional Convention and emphasizing the pivotal role played by Madison in the writing and adoption of the nation's most important political document. As far as juvenile biographies go this is not the first book I would recommend to a student, particularly a younger one, but once they have picked up a basic understanding of Madison's life and times from a smaller book, then this one is great for providing additional details and a more advanced understanding of Madison's importance as a Founding Father.

I think that James Madison is going to be the next Founding Father to be rediscovered by historians and Hollywood, replacing the current fascination with John Adams. When Madison's turn in the historical spotlight comes around this juvenile biography by Ann Graham Gaines for the Our Presidents series will be useful for younger students. All of the volumes in this series consist of just four chapters and the general rule has been to devote one chapter to each term served as President. However, Madison's life does not fit that model. A Thoughtful Leader does cover Madison's youth, but focuses mostly on his political involvement during the American Revolution. Father of the Constitution is the most significant chapter proving he deserves the title, while A New War shows why Madison's two terms in the White House are essentially reduced to the impact of the War of 1812. The final chapter, Honored Leader is atypical for the series since it devotes an entire chapter to the actions of the former President.

After reading this I was struck by how few Presidents have noteworthy careers after leaving the White House. John Quincy Adams was elected to the House of Representatives, Andrew Johnson briefly returned to the Senate, and William Howard Taft served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, but they are rare exceptions. While not as active as Jimmy Carter, or even Herbert Hoover for that matter, Madison did attain a sort of enhanced dignity out of office that few former Chief Executives have enjoyed.

Gaines does a nice job of providing the basic information for understanding the importance of Madison's career in public service. The book is illustrated with historic paintings and etchings, including a couple of choice political cartoons from the period and an actual photograph taken of Dolley Madison when she was 70; look at those eyes and that smile and you can understand why she was one of the most charming and popular First Ladies in our nation's history. There are sid bars on Dolley Madison, The White House Ablaze, and the Star Spangled Banner, and the margins of the book are filled with Interesting Facts such as the origins of Uncle Sam and calling the president's mansion The White House. There are always nice production values with the Our Presidents books, but they are also solid sources of information and illustrations about their subjects.

This is not a review, simply a correction of your listing of this book--it is not by Alexander Hamilton, it is by Hamilton and James Madison, being an exchange of arguments between them.

The Mind of the Founder: Sources of the Political Thought of James Madison by James Madison and Marvin Meyers editor, is a book on Madison's political thought through writings and papers.

This is excellent for students, scholars and general readers as it delves into Madison's thought as a political theorist, practicing politician, and major political thinker in his time. Madison political life went on for fifty years, from the time of the Revolution to the framing of the Constitution, and finially to the sectional crisis over slavery.

This book is divided into five major parts and each is subdivided into small like sections. The five major parts are: Anticipations: Revolutionary Years; Founding: The Critical Period; Opposition: The Federalist Era; Power: The Republican Regime; and lastly Reflections: The Elder Statesman.

This book has an excellent bibliography of selected readings about Madison and is documented through and verified from extensive cross referencing and from Madison's own writings. Reading Madison's writings makes you know Madison rather vicariously, but to know him better you would have to speak with him one on one.

I found this book fascinating and well worth the time as I read, you can almost feel the wheels turning in Madison's head as he plots and thinks through problems... too bad Madison wasn't a better leader... he would have surpassed Jefferson in import. But, as a political theorist, Jefferson depended on Madison.

Writing after the fact, historians often conclude that a war was preventable. This is generally false, as the dispassionate writer is removed from the context of the times. The war in 1812 between the United States and Great Britain has often been viewed as a pointless, forgettable war, yet in fact it had enormous consequences. The war was the defining moment of the Madison presidency and a significant break from the policy of the previous Jefferson and early Madison administrations. In describing the war, Rutland is masterful in describing the context and emotions of the times, the combination of which caused a war that was inevitable.
At the time, the Napoleonic wars were raging on the European continent and both Britain and France sought to wring every advantage they could out of what they considered an upstart nation. For years, Jefferson and Madison tried every tactic they could short of war in an attempt to delay a call to arms. Finally, national pride won out over all other factors and the war began. Madison's conduct of the war was not nearly as effective as it could have been, and yet the tie was all that was needed. James Monroe, the successor to Madison, enunciated what is now known as the Monroe doctrine, which warned all nations to avoid colonization efforts in the Western Hemisphere. With little American sea power to back it up, it was the first example of cooperation between Britain and the United States, as the enforcement was due to the power of the British navy. It is doubtful that this could have happened without the war.
The ways in which Rutland places the war in the context of power struggles in Europe and in the United States is masterful, as he describes how fragmented the United States was in those years. It is also possible to see the seeds of an eventual split and internal war, not over the issue of slavery, but over commercial and social differences.
In so many ways, Madison's best years were behind him when he became president. And yet, his handling of the war of 1812 was most likely the best that could have been done, as he sought to defend a fractious nation against an old foe who afterward became a staunch ally. For that reason alone, his administration should be considered a success and this book is the most realistic appraisal of his years in the White House that I have ever seen.

Through her poise, tact, charm, and personal heroism, Dolley Payne Madison has long been one of the most-admired women in the early history of the American Republic. In this exquisite sampling of Dolley's letters, both scholars and general readers alike have great reason to rejoice. For years, the devoted University of Virginia team which lovingly collected and painstakingly edited the papers of James Madison also paid equal attention to his soulmate, Dolley. David B. Mattern (Senior Associate Editor of The Papers of James Madison), and Holly C. Shulman (Research Associate Professor, Studies in Women and Gender at the University of Virginia) have provided the portal through which generations of researchers and writers will pass to meet Dolley. The 442-page book provides not only a well-balanced selection of meticulously edited letters to and from Dolley, but also a series of short, factual essays which frame and give context to each period of her life. In addition, a marvelous 24-page biographical directory provides thumbnail biographies of persons mentioned in her letters. I pre-ordered this book the moment I learned of its intended publication, and it now forms a cornerstone for the research on my forthcoming biography of this amazing First Lady, "Dolley Madison: From Hostess to Heroine" (Corinthian Books, June 2004). -Richard N. Côté, author of "Mary's World: Love, War, and Family Ties in Nineteenth-century Charleston" and "Theodosia Burr Alston: Portrait of a Prodigy."