James Madison

By Atlas MeyersThe 4th Presidency (1809–1817)

History

Biography and Memoir

Length1h 11m

About this book

Summary

The man who engineered the delicate checks and balances of the American government was forced to preside over its near-total collapse. We examine the years 1809 through 1817 as the "Second War of Independence," a period where the United States fought for its sovereignty not against a tax or a king, but against the geopolitical reality of being a small republic in a world of titans. This is the story of a government paralyzed by its own principles, a capital city reduced to charcoal, and a military disaster that was miraculously transmuted into a psychological victory. We trace the painful transition of the American identity from a loose confederation of coastal states into a unified national entity, forged in the fires of an unnecessary war and the demise of the first political opposition.