A Life Reconsidered
0143127039
Lynne Cheney
Notes
“He derives from nature an excellent understanding…but I think he excels in the quality of judgment. He is possessed of a sound judgment, which perceives truth with great clearness and can trace it through the mazes of debate without losing it. He is admirable for his inestimable talent. As a reasoner, he is remarkably perspicuous and methodical. He is a studious man, devoted to public business and a thorough master of almost every public question that can arise or he will spare no pains to become so, if he happens to be in want of information…He is probably deficient in that fervor and vigor of character which you will expect of a great man, too much of a book politician (and) too much attached to his theories”
Fisher Ames
A supporter of a strong central government in the 1780’s, Madison was now increasingly bent on limiting its power…
…a country’s fundamental arrangements are critical to determining its long-term economic growth, even more critical than economic policies. Security in property rights, which Madison explained in Federalist 10 as one of the purposes of the Constitution, is an essential underpinning of a sound economy. So too is security in contracts, which the Constitution addresses by forbidding states to impair them, So too are the uniform commercial regulations and checks and balances on power that the Constitution provides.
Oppositional thought had to be organized in order to put ideas into practice, which is what a party did. This was breakthrough thinking in a society where revolution was still a living memory…Madison concluded that the established order was itself undoing the Revolution and that the greater good required effective opposition.
Madison gave nothing away to strangers, but once a person gained his trust, he became agreeableness itself.
When experience proved that his opponents’ ideas had merit, he incorporated them into his own thinking – though like any good politician he didn’t go out of his way to advertise that he was doing so.
Perhaps he thought his frankness would help others. He had long ago read that “great men are like looking glasses” in providing models that people look to. Those who suffered with epilepsy might take comfort in his experience – as he had long ago found comfort in knowing that John Locke had endured repeated illnesses.
As Madison gave a behind-the-scenes view of momentous happenings, Paulding learned, he later wrote, “that many great events arise from little causes and that as relates to the real motives and moving causes of public measures, history knows about as much of the past as she does of the future.”
Madison’s epilepsy was the concern that most limited him. By compartmentalizing it, he was able to manage those occurrences while still being successful and living to old age.