James Madison: A Life Reconsidered

Given that there are a fair number of biographies of James Madison, who needs another? But Lynne Cheney's does add--or at least focuses innovatively on--areas of Madison's life that greatly shaped him and on what he achieved. Moreover, I and presumably some other readers of her book want to find out just how good a historian she is, being the wife of the controversial former Vice President Dick Cheney. I find that she comes out quite well as an historian in her own right, and a good writer to boot.Cheney examines deeply Madison's health, which affects his performance from boyhood through his old age. It appears to have been epilepsy, as it was deemed when he was alive and as it would be today. She delves into the medical literature of Madison's day and draws out how it affected his personal and political life and probably his religious views and lays out what even educated persons in his time regarded as seizures by the devil. Her research brings her into medical tracts and writings in the hands of his father, friends, and some actors not friendly to him. The material she has exhumed is informative about how his illness affected him---even, apparently being one of the factors that drew him to Thomas Jefferson, who suffered a different form of metal distress. In Jefferson's case it was migraine headaches.The story she tells bring us through all the events we tried to work our way through in high school and college, and the book serves as a fair survey of the history of the issues of freedom of religion or, as it is sometimes expressed, as freedom of conscience. Was there a need for a Bill of Rights? If so, should the answer be a condition for the States, or the People (that itself was an issue), adopting the Constitution and thereby bringing the United States into being? Madison's key role in resolving that issue was a great success for democracy although he had to shift from insisting such a proclamation of basic rights was not needed to supporting its inclusion in the newly adopted Constitution. (The first amendment he proposed was not the First Amendment we know today--freedom of religion and of speech and the press--but about pay to Congressmen and Senators and did not come into force until 1992, when ratified by Michigan.)Cheney describes the further shifts in Madison's basic stands from urging a strong central government to insisting on limited powers being granted by states that would reflect what in today's world is regarded as strong, conservative restraints on the federal government. The reader may chortle at times how Madison makes what may be construed as practical decisions in favor of conceding important powers to the federal government. The biggest, and swiftest, change in his position comes when he jumps to exploit the chance given to the United States by Napoleon to buy the Louisiana territory--and thereby double the size of the United States. That cost the United States a few bucks--but a tremendous bargain--but also led Madison to have the United States Government do something for which he felt it had no clear authority to do.One commendable contribution Cheney makes to the accumulation of biographic accounts of the 100-pound revolutionary in generally neat, black attire was to provide a few words about John Witherspoon. This Scotsman, about whom a number of studies have been written but never circulated in any meaningful quantity, was a product of the Scottish Enlightenment who had a significant influence on the shaping of the efforts made in the American colonies for a break from Britain and the creation of a newly oriented government. He came America to take over the presidency of the College of New Jersey, later to be known as Princeton University. He encouraged Madison as an entrant into this already well established school. Indeed, he reportedly helped Madison get through college in two years instead of the usual four, although with some bad pressure on Madison's vulnerable physical and mental strength. Cheney does not spend a great deal telling us about Witherspoon, not only a significant figure in the Presbyterian Church but the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. He did have some strong conventional views on theology, but also exercise educational conformity on his subjects. And he had a great opportunity, which he did exploit. As Cheney tells us: one of Witherspoon's students became President of the United States; another Vice President; forty-nine became members of the House of Representatives; twenty-eight, of the Senate; three, Supreme Court Justices. Coincidentally, a new Witherspoon biography by Jeffry H. Morrison has just been published (Notre Dame Press).While adding some interesting and useful material to what others have written about Madison, and presenting some engaging perspective, Cheney does let slip by the chance to add to her report on Madison's influence on religious freedom in the early years of our country. Over the most recent years, we have had many news reports about pirates attacking American vessels off the Somali coast of Africa, but those news accounts have been universally lacking any recognition that piracy was one of the earliest problems the new United States Government had to deal with. Moreover, as a reporter of the precursor raids, she neglects to look into the mistaken claim heard today about the United States having been born a Christian nation. The new U.S. Government had to send warships to the Mediterranean to fight against the seizure of American merchant vessels by official pirates of the Barbary States, countries along the northern coast of Africa, who captured American sailors and imprisoned them for ransom to be paid by the United States Government. The United States counterattacked and, with some difficulty, forced an end to that piracy. A treaty (along with substantial payments in cash and goods) temporarily ended this warfare. Some of the naval attacks recurred over the next few years, and new negotiations took place. We are all familiar with the U.S. Marines today singing about their campaigns "from the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli." Madison was in the House of Representatives and then was Secretary if State during this period. The first Treaty with the Bey of Tripoli, the head of a Muslim state, contained an article that said, in part: "As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion" there should be no pretext based on "religious opinions" to interrupt the harmony between the two Governments. The Senate, in 1797, gave its unanimous consent to the ratification of the treaty. There is no record of any critical remarks from the floor. So here we have a pretty clear official expression to counter today's oft-asserted mistaken claim about the religious nature of our country in its earliest years.In light of of Madison's great achievement in Virginia and then in the United States Government to ensure freedom of conscience, we do look in Cheney's book for discussion of his own religious beliefs. Cheney finds a passage close to a statement of belief. This is something he wrote in his late years, as the Sage of Montpelier. For most people, he wrote at that time, the most convincing argument about God comes not from an "abstract train of ideas" but from the world around. "Reasoning from the effect to the cause, 'from nature to nature's God,' will be the more universal and more persuasive application." The persistent reader can get a somewhat wider picture of this presentation at page 433 of her book (pagination works even in Kindle edition). On religion, I think he did a better job in writing what we have today as the First Amendment.Prospective readers are sometimes put off by a book's greater than average length. In this case, a rather large portion of the text in its entirety is taken up by a lot of notes that should be very helpful for those interested in seeing what the author has dug thorough and where they may turn if they want to do more digging on their own. Perhaps in the way of a disclaimer--or perhaps not--she acknowledges the help she obtained in her research from the American Enterprise Institute, not a source often mentioned by other historians. She also acknowledges another feature of growing importance to historians, namely, digital sources that greatly enhance the productivity of researchers.All in all, a very worthwhile endeavor.

After finishing this book, I was a bit puzzled by the portion of the title “A Life Reconsidered”. This book was a straight up biography. What is there to reconsider? Does this book paint any new, jarring revelations about the man? Are there things that history has taught us that the author wants to disprove? If so, I never figured it out. Although I confess I didn’t know that much about James Madison other than he was one of the country’s founding fathers, the fourth President of the United States, and the author of the Constitution.This book tells you all of this, but not that much more. To be honest, that’s o.k. I wasn’t necessarily looking for a 1,000-page tome on someone who lived over 200 years ago. In fact, this book seemed to go by rather quickly. We don’t really read much about his personal life. There are brief mentions of parents, siblings, and friends, but other than wife Dolley, this book is much more about facts and not so much about feeling. Even the famous Dolley doesn’t get that much attention paid to her. We also read a lot about Madison’s struggle with epilepsy and the primitive ‘cures’ that never seem to do much good.So in many ways this biography is more of a history lesson of the times that Madison lived through than a deep dive into himself as a person. There certainly was a lot of history to be written about so, again, one doesn’t feel as though they’re not getting their fill within the pages. To be honest, I thought the first half of the book dragged somewhat. The minutia of the formation of the young country was a bit much. One must remember how challenging such a task was. How should this new country be run? Who decides such things? Obviously, there’s never any clear consensus, and even before the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the colonies found themselves split mainly within two ways of thinking. Actually, I do enjoy reading about the conflicts between the Federalists and the Republicans. It proves that conflicts between two political parties has never been anything new. People who think the nation is now severely divided need to read accounts such as this. Sadly, it’s always been politics first, the well-being of the nation second.Once the Revolutionary War concludes and George Washington is elected the first president, the book picks up the pace. Author Lynne Cheney wisely doesn’t spend much time on Madison’s three predecessors in the White House (then called the ‘Executive Mansion’). Each president gets about one chapter each. In fact, when Madison is elected in 1808, there isn’t that much detail either. The one event that gets considerable detailed telling is the War of 1812 – the highlight being the burning of the Executive Mansion.There were times when I forgot that I was reading a bio of James Madison and thought, instead, that I was reading a history book on the beginnings of the United States of America. Perhaps there really isn’t that much to know about Madison? I seem to recall at one point that there were letters written to him, or by him that were purposefully destroyed for some reason or another. Such a thing doesn’t seem such a big deal today, but back then, such correspondence was invaluable into the understanding of the people and the times, so it could be that the author tells us just about all there is to know – it just didn’t feel like very much. This is especially true when one has read books by Ron Chernow on such subjects as Washington, Hamilton, and Ulysses S. Grant.I still enjoyed the book. The second half was definitely stronger. One who loves history really shouldn’t be disappointed, and the author, for the most part, stays away from over bearing her readers with unnecessary details and facts that the layman may not prefer to study in meticulous detail.

This is an enjoyable overview of Madison life, although it's hard to go into much detail with only 500 pages.Sad that Dolly Madison was left with debt after James passed away

Cette biographie est intéressante pour approcher ce personnage aussi crucial pour l'indépendance et le renforcement des Etats-Unis qu'il est souvent méconnu. Elle s'attarde particulièrement sur l'apport de Madison à l'indépendance et à la rédaction et l'adoption de la constitution. Elle montre son rôle central comme auteur de nombreux articles du Federalist, de sa capacité à éclairer les débats et les enjeux constitutionnels, de son acuité politique à construire des majorité. Elle offre un survol assez synthétique de sa présidence et de la guerre qui opposa les Etats-Unis à la Grande Bretagne en 1812. Il manque au livre la qualité d'un minutieux travail universitaire et à la fin je me suis un peu lassé. Mais c'est un livre honnête sur un personnage incontournable de la jeune république.

The book seems well researched but dry and boring. Presidents may not be the most interesting people to read about and Cheney did a poor job to make him come alive. There are certainly better books about Madison than this one.

If you have any concerns that author Lynne Cheney's biography of the 4th President of the United States may be tainted by her family's political ideology, you can discard those apprehensions. The author of James Madison: A Life Reconsidered writes a very detailed and objective account of the life of her subject and in doing so dispels many of the myths about Madison being ineffective or lacking energy during his presidency. From the acknowledgements section at the end of the book, it is clear that this book is a labour of love for Cheney, and her research of her subject is thorough and impeccable. Professionally written and very readable, Lynne Cheney traces Madison's life from his ancestry and his youth, to his service during the American Revolution and his close association with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and to his role as "father of the Constitution". The book also provides an excellent account of Madison's presidency and is especially good in its description of what led up to the War of 1812, and how the nation coped during the war, including when the British attacked Washington, DC and burned the White House. The book concludes with an excellent description of Madison's life as an elder statesman, of the issues he had to confront in retirement both politically and personally, and it puts in context the suggestion that Madison tried to edit his personal papers in order to distort his legacy.Cheney has an obvious fondness for Madison, but her adulation of her subject is no more than most biographers and much less than some. The brilliance of this work is in how she puts in perspective the political decisions made both by Madison and by the other presidents of his era. She is also able to understand and explain sectional differences of the time, especially on such complicated issues as the nation's relationship with Great Britain and with France, and the very troubling problem of slavery. On that issue, she ably discusses the moral inconsistencies both within the nation and within Madison personally. Although she has great admiration for Madison, she is not an apologist for his contradictory views on slavery and freedom. She makes every effort to understand and explain his thinking in this area, but does not defend it.Another area in which the author excels is in analyzing is Madison's health, more specifically the likelihood that he was an epileptic. Cheney ably walks the fine line between speculation and reasonable inference, and in doing so is able to paint what is likely a more realistic picture of the true state of Madison's health. She makes a fair case for the proposition that he was not a weak or sickly man, and was likely stronger than most historians give him credit for.This book is a pleasure to read because it adopts the ideal tone. It is neither too professorial or pedantic, nor does it dumb down any of its subject matter. Cheney respects the reader's intelligence and makes all of the issues of the life and times of James Madison interesting and clear. In the process, she establishes her credentials as an excellent historian and author.

great book reading