Land of Hope: An Invitation to the Great American Story

by Wilfred M. McClay

Unlike the physically imposing Washington, James Madison did not look the heroic part he was given by history to play. His nickname was “Little Jemmy,” because he was such a tiny, frail man, a mere five feet tall, with a squeaky voice and a reticent, bookish manner. But no one doubted his high intelligence, his encyclopedic knowledge of political history, and his eloquence and persuasiveness in debate. His intelligence was of the rarest sort, combining the shrewdness of an effective practical politician with the reflectiveness of a philosopher. His knowledge of the past gave him a particularly keen appreciation of the possibilities inherent in the moment in which America found itself, and he intended to make the most of those possibilities. Getting the Constitution right would be a high-stakes affair. America, he asserted, would “decide for ever the fate of republican government.”

Madison Learn from history