Founding Rivals Quotes

“Perhaps modern esteem for these figures serves as a reminder that, though statesmen may have to struggle mightily to advance their cause, and though they may lose on an issue or come out on the wrong side in the judgment of history, their principled determination is sufficient to win them a place in people's hearts, long after they are gone.”
― Chris DeRose, Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, The Bill of Rights, and The Election that Saved a Nation

“For the first and not the last time in American history, a measure was adopted when the leader of the opposing party led the charge for it. The modern cliché is “Only Nixon could go to China”—only such a strong anti-communist could regularize relations with that country.”
― Chris DeRose, Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, The Bill of Rights, and The Election that Saved a Nation

“Britain was playing on the same weakness in America, punishing American exporters in the confidence that all thirteen states, behaving as separate actors, could not retaliate. Spain was also busy pitting Northern and Southern states against each other in its attempt to wrest the Mississippi from America. One characteristic of the failed governments Madison studied, from the Achaean League to the Belgic Confederacy, was paralysis. They were unable to get things done. The Achaeans required the agreement of ten of twelve members, and the Belgic Confederacy required unanimous consent. The Belgic Confederacy consisted of fifty-two independent cities and seven provinces. Thus foreign powers and enemies needed to co-opt only one city or province out of fifty-nine to get their way.3 It was exactly what both Madison and Monroe had continually experienced in Congress.”
― Chris DeRose, Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, The Bill of Rights, and The Election that Saved a Nation

“Madison had been elected to the First Congress by only 336 votes. It was in that Congress that the Bill of Rights was passed, cementing the people’s confidence in the new federal government. And the Constitution was saved. All because of one election.”
― Chris DeRose, Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, The Bill of Rights, and The Election that Saved a Nation

“Madison believed that taxes were an evil that should be instituted only to prevent a greater evil—such as the failure of a country to protect its citizens or honor its financial obligations.”
― Chris DeRose, Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, The Bill of Rights, and The Election that Saved a Nation

“I confess that there are several parts of the Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them. For, having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change opinions, even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that, the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others....”
― Chris DeRose, Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, The Bill of Rights, and The Election that Saved a Nation

“All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a SUPERINTENDING Providence in our favor. To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance? I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?”
― Chris DeRose, Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, The Bill of Rights, and The Election that Saved a Nation

“It is noteworthy that the Southern states were such strong defenders of national power at the Constitutional Convention. Having recently been conquered by the British, living in constant tension with various Indian tribes, and sharing a substantial border with hostile European powers, the South chose the plan that would best serve its interests. Only a strong, well-financed government could deter and repel hostile enemies.”
― Chris DeRose, Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, The Bill of Rights, and The Election that Saved a Nation

“Madison, thirty-seven, was the primary author of the Constitution and one of the greatest political thinkers of his day. Monroe, thirty, was an established attorney with a record in combat that could hardly be equaled anywhere on the continent.”
― Chris DeRose, Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, The Bill of Rights, and The Election that Saved a Nation

“the most fatal plan that could possibly be conceived to enslave a free people.”
― Chris DeRose, Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, The Bill of Rights, and The Election that Saved a Nation