James Madison

On James Madison I read Noah Feldman’s “The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President”.

James Madison reminds me of a mailing list software engineer. He is obsessed with perfecting the constitutional contract. When his beloved document hits real world issues (small states refusing to sign) he is forced to compromise (senate) and back-rationalize his changes.

Obviously, I’m not the biggest fan of the president but the author deserves kudos for organizing this biography into the “3 lives”.