Today is the birthday of our greatest Framer and the genius behind our Constitution: James Madison. He would have been 275 years old. I ordinarily celebrate at home (as shown in this picture from a previous Jemmy Party). However, I am in Naples, Florida, to talk about Rage and the Republic, which discusses Madison’s brilliant design for our Republic. I will be toasting Jemmy tonight as I hope you do.
In Rage and the Republic, I discussed how Madison’s “auxiliary precautions” were essential in creating a stable republic. The book compares the American and French Revolutions, exploring how one revolution led to the world’s oldest and most stable democracy while the other led to the “Terror.” The difference came down to the protections in the Madisonian system against “democratic despotism,” a tendency of democracies to devour themselves in majoritarian terror.
From the book:
Where Paine was righteous rage, Madison was pious reason. The two documents speak to the different roles that they played as well as the key figures associated with them. The Declaration is exhilarating in its language and declarations of liberty. The Constitution in comparison is more clinical in tone and focus. The Declaration focused on transcendent principles of liberty, while the Constitution focused on the nuts and bolts of democracy.
The Constitution is neither poetic nor particularly inspiring. It was written by the ultimate political wonk. Madison was a true genius who viewed government as more of a science than an art. He saw the inherent dangers of democracy far more clearly than Paine; a more sobering reality taken from Madison’s review of failed systems going back to ancient Athens. Human beings—not deities—run governments, and any government must be able to withstand the petty, corrupt, and pernicious motives of those in power…
…That was most evident in his famous statement in Federalist 51 that “if men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” Even Paine, who was viewed as favoring robust democratic powers, acknowledged that “government, like dress, is a badge of our lost innocence.” Paine would find few angels in power in Paris and come to recognize the necessity of some of Madison’s “precautions.”
We ordinarily celebrate with a traditional Virginia dinner (with the required Virginia ham), a three-layer cake, and Madison’s favorite dessert of ice cream (I recommend the tripartite Neapolitan).
James Madison, Jr. was born on March 16, 1751, at the Belle Gove Plantation in the colony of Virginia to James Madison Sr. and Nelly Conway Madison.
Despite being only 5’4” and barely above 100 pounds, Madison proved to be an intellectual giant who shaped constitutional theory for generations.
While critics would call him “Little Jemmy,” Jemmy was a nickname others used for Madison.
Madison died of congestive heart failure at Montpelier on the morning of June 28, 1836. He was 85 — an advanced age for the time. My favorite story from his death came from his niece who asked him, “What is the matter, Uncle James?” Madison responded, “Nothing more than a change of mind, my dear.” He then promptly passed.
So enjoy the day and celebrate in true Madisonian fashion. There is no need to be moderate. After all, “if men were angels, no government would be necessary. As always, while I expect Dolley would not be thrilled, here is our annual sultry send-off for James Madison at 275 years young today:
Last night Trump went on a long rant complaining about the SCOTUS decision agreeing with the lower courts that his tariffs were illegal. He lied about other countries getting “trillions” in refunds from the US government. The refunds will all be paid to the US companies that paid the tariffs. Not one cent will be paid to a foreign country because the tariffs were all paid by US companies.
Gee— what would Jemmy have to say about Trump’s unilateral tariffs, his lies about who pays them and his attacks on the judiciary for enforcing the Constitution?
Not true. Do you have credible sources?
Foreign labor makes huge profits. Why are the imports , that’s imports tariffed. Very little American labor except in domestic distribution. An effort to create American jobs but American labor isn’t affordable. American labor is higher prices or tariffs is higher prices or leave the profit for the owners solely controlling cheap Foreign labor and prices set by owner. The increased profit is then invested in Foreign market growth. It’s a bubble actually but should last for a few generations.
Vanilla beans grown, packaged in the dirt by barefoot labor– 😋. Shrimp grown in sewers with pathogens and radiation in southeast Asia 😋. Vomited for 3 days and no longer eat imports from some areas.
Jon: You need to don a wig and Eighteenth Century frock coat, and tour the country as James Madison, as Hal Holbrook did with Mark Twain