"Over the course of his life, James Madison changed the United States three times: First, he designed the Constitution, led the struggle for its adoption and ratification, then drafted the Bill of Rights. As an older, cannier politician he co-founded the original Republican party, setting the course of American political partisanship. Finally, having pioneered a foreign policy based on economic sanctions, he took the United States into a high-risk conflict, becoming the first wartime president and, despite the odds, winning. In The Three Lives of James Madison, Noah Feldman offers an intriguing portrait of this elusive genius and the constitutional republic he created--and how both evolved to meet unforeseen challenges."--Dust jacket.

Book I. Constitution. Friendships -- Rise -- Crisis -- Philadelphia -- Compromise -- Ratification -- Book II. Party. The Bill of Rights -- Debts -- Enemies -- The President and his party -- In the shade -- Book III. War. Secretary of State -- Neutrality -- President -- War -- Failure and redemption -- Conclusion : Legacy.