The First Congress : How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government (Hardcover)

from dhmontgomery

On April 7, 2019, President Donald Trump effectively fired Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. In the aftermath, plenty of people debated whether the president should have fired Nielsen — but no one questioned whether he COULD. That silence, it turns out, is among the great many things ...

from Schmerguls

5464. The First Congress How James Madison, George Washington, and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government, by Fergus M. Bordewich (read 23 Apr 2017) This is an extraordinarily well-constructed book and a delight to read as it carefully sets forth the events related o the first Congr...

from stevesmits

When one considers the lack of productivity of today's Congress, stalemated by ideological divisions that thwart even the most modest compromise on policy matters, the accomplishments of the first Congress seem utterly superlative. That Congress convened with no precedent to guide it and went for...

from fhudnell

In spite of my having grown up in New Jersey surrounded by "Washington slept here" sites, my school seemed to devote more time to making me memorize the names of the English kings than they did to American history. So I feel like there are great gaps in my education. I was spurred on to revisit t...

from wagner.sarah35

I struggled to get into this book - it's a bit dry at times - but it's well worth reading for its take on how the first congress met, functioned, and passed legislation we now look back on as foundational to the American government. I particularly appreciated the discussion of the crafting and pa...