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Standing about five feet, four inches tall, Madison did not have the physical presence of some of the more heralded founders. Intellectually, however, he was on par with his friend and colleague Thomas Jefferson and his sometime rival Alexander Hamilton. The title of "father" of the Constitution, which scholars have often bestowed upon Madison, is overly generous, but he certainly emerged as the first among equals at the Constitutional Convention, and he thus deserves the credit--or blame--for this document as much as anyone. Scholars often identify the whole system of checks and balances at the national level as a "Madisonian" system, and modern advocates of parliamentary democracy who would combine legislative and executive powers thus sometimes fault him for real or perceived inefficiencies in the current system.

The Constitution's greatest failure was, without doubt, its inability to avert the Civil War. Madison arguably shares the blame, then, for not using the convention to address the issue of slavery, although he should also receive credit for having opposed the extension of the slave trade. At the Constitutional Convention, Madison recognized that the division between the slave and free states was greater than the differences between large and small states.

Madison's work on the Bill of Rights earned him the moniker of "father" of that document as well. His initial lukewarm sentiments toward such a bill made his labors on its behalf even more impressive. Many scholars believe that the promise of a bill of rights helped secure constitutional ratification; its inclusion surely further bolstered faith in that document and, in time, helped protect civil liberties.

Madison also played a major role in the establishment of political parties. Scholars still debate the degree to which he anticipated such parties when he wrote Federalist 10, but he certainly provided vigorous leadership once it was apparent that they were around to stay. Although Madison could be unbending on matters of principle, he often moderated the passions of fellow party members. As president, Madison tended to ride popular tides rather than direct them. He carried over weak cabinet officers from Jefferson's administration and found it difficult to dismiss disloyal or incompetent subordinates, although he did wisely recognize and use the administrative strengths of James Monroe, who alternately served as both secretary of state and secretary of war. Madison's central strength stemmed from his ability to accept personal criticism without seeking to silence his critics.

In retirement, Madison fought a largely losing battle to prevent the appropriation of his own words on behalf of individual liberties for the causes of nullification and secession. He should not perhaps be overly blamed for his inability to solve a problem that the nation was eventually obliged to secure through force of arms. His posthumously published records of the Constitutional Convention continue to be a source of information about the birth of the U.S. Constitution.

Bibliography:

1)         Banning, Lance. The Sacred Fire of Liberty: James Madison and the Founding of the Federal Republic. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1995.

2)         Brant, Irving. James Madison. 6 vols. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1941-1961.

3)         Goldwin, Robert. From Parchment to Power: How James Madison Used the Bill of Rights to Save the Constitution. Washington, D.C.: AEI Press, 1997.

4)         Kaminski, John P. James Madison: Champion of Liberty and Justice. Madison, Wis.: Parallel, 2006.

5)         Ketcham, Ralph. James Madison: A Biography. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1990.

6)         Labunski, Richard. James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.

7)         McCoy, Drew R. The Last of the Fathers: James Madison and the Republican Legacy. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989.

8)         Rakove, Jack. James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic, 3rd. ed. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2007.

9)         Rosen, Gary. American Compact: James Madison and the Problem of Founding. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1999.

10)       Vile, John R., William D. Pederson, and Frank Williams, eds. James Madison: Philosopher, Founder, and Statesman. Athens: Ohio University Press, 2008.

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