James Madison: The Founding Father

In this very human portrait of Madison and his role in the early, problem-fraught years of the new republic, University of Virginia professor Rutland, editor of the Madison Papers, not ony depicts him as a fervent patriot, combining ""erudition and common sense,'' but recounts his goals and frustrations, victories and defeats, along with frequent incapacitation because of bad health. Most significant were his contributions as chief framer of the Constitution and his defense of it as coauthor with Hamilton of the Federalist Papers. Madison and Jefferson (with whom he shared views on the need for an educated public and the gradual abolition of slavery) founded the Republican Party in opposition to Hamilton's Anglophile Federalist Party, which favored monied interests. Emerging from early retirement on his Virginia plantation, he helped assure Jefferson's election to the presidency and subsequently served for two terms as secretary of state. His wife Dolley acted as hostess for the widowed president as she did during her husband's White House tenure, despite the disruptions of the ineptly conducted War of 1812. Illustrations not seen by PW. (September 17)