James Madison: America's First Politician

An intellectual biography of James Madison, arguing that he invented American politics as we know it How do you solve a problem like James Madison? The fourth president is one of the most confounding figures in early American history; his political trajectory seems almost intentionally inconsistent.

He was both for and against a strong federal government.

He wrote about the dangers of political parties in the Federalist Papers and then helped to found the Republican Party just a few years later.

This so-called Madison problem has occupied scholars for ages.As Jay Cost shows in this incisive new biography, the underlying logic of Madison’ s seemingly mixed record comes into focus only when we understand him primarily as a working politician.

He was, in short, the first American politician.