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If Men Were Angels: James Madison and the Heartless Empire of Reason, by Richard K. Matthews
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"What is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary."
The ever wary James Madison viewed his fellow citizens as anything but angelic. In this radically new interpretation, Richard Matthews portrays a much less optimistic (and yet more liberal) Madison than we've seen before. Neither civic humanist nor democrat, this Madison is a distrusting, calculating, and pragmatic Machiavellian Prince.
Hardly an imposing figure, Madison was barely five-feet-six-inches tall, pale complected, a poor speaker, a perpetual hypochondriac and secret epileptic, pursued by bouts of depression and given to dressing in black. And yet his political achievements and intellectual legacy are monumental. Revered as the "Father of the Constitution," Madison was also architect of the "Virginia plan"; one of the two principal authors of The Federalist; leader of the inaugural House of Representatives; reluctant champion of the Bill of Rights; cofounder of the Republican Party, Washington's ghostwriter; Jefferson's Secretary of State; and president and commander-in-chief during America's second war of Independence.
Nevertheless, Madison's preeminence in the rise of the modern American state has not always been so widely recognized. And, Matthews contends, what has been written about Madison's political thought has been limited in scope and skewed in interpretation.
Unlike previous authors, Matthews goes well beyond Madison's work on the Constitution to reconstruct the complete range of Madison's political thought and intellectual development over the course of his extensive life. In the process, he provides a powerful critique of Madisonian politics. It is possible, he shows, to applaud the energy, design, and intellect that went into Madison's thought and simultaneously challenge the assumptions and values upon which that thought rests.
Matthews's Madison understood the potentially fatal problems of a weak, divided state; saw salvation in a strong central government astride an expanding commercial republic; drafted that government's fundamental charter; ran the infant regime as an advisor to two presidents before becoming president himself; and, in retirement, strove to control and manipulate historical interpretations of these efforts. From "The Legislator" to chief executive to keeper of the past and controller of the future, Madison adjusted his political posture to suit the moment. . . . just as Machiavelli's ideal Prince would have done. Madison's system achieved the stability he desired, but at a price Americans should have refused to pay.
Provocative and controversial, Matthews's study revises our understanding of this central figure in American history. It illuminates his profound impact upon the America imagined by the Framers, his ongoing influence on the nation we have become, and the tragedy of his success in foreclosing the possibility of a radical Jeffersonian America that never was, but might have been.
- Sales Rank: #2916973 in Books
- Brand: Brand: University Press of Kansas
- Published on: 1995-01-18
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.28" h x 1.16" w x 6.38" l, 1.44 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 290 pages
- Used Book in Good Condition
From Library Journal
Matthews (government, Lehigh Univ.) here presents the second of a projected three volumes offering a revisionist interpretation of our Founding Fathers. He writes with gusto and authority, and his conclusions will bring both respect and controversy. With finesse and fairness he delineates how his views contrast with those of other recent authors such as Lance Banning and Forrest McDonald. Matthews argues that Madison was a consistent liberal throughout his career; he placed high value on personal liberties as well as on a strong, rational state. While the author admires the power and integrity of Madison's thought, his evaluation of Matthews is finally negative. He claims that the victory of Madison's views has produced a country that is vulgar, materialistic, and anti-intellectual. Matthews regrets that the early republic did not take the route of Jeffersonian idealism. For general and academic collections.
T.J. Schaeper, St. Bonaventure Univ., N.Y.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Back Cover
The ever-wary James Madison viewed his fellow citizens as anything but angelic. In this radically new interpretation, Richard Matthews portrays a much less optimistic (and yet more liberal) Madison than we've seen before. Neither civic humanist nor democrat, this Madison is a distrusting, calculating, and pragmatic Machiavellian Prince. Unlike previous authors, Matthews goes well beyond Madison's work on the Constitution to reconstruct the complete range of Madison's political thought and intellectual development over the course of his extensive life. In the process, he provides a powerful critique of Madisonian politics. It is possible, he shows, to applaud the energy, design, and intellect that went into Madison's thought and simultaneously challenge the assumptions and values upon which that thought rests.
About the Author
Richard K. Matthews is professor and chair of the department of government at Lehigh University. If Men Were Angels is the second volume in his revisionist trilogy on the Founding that began with The Radical Politics of Thomas Jefferson and that will conclude with Alexander Hamilton and the Creation of the Heroic State.
Most helpful customer reviews
11 of 32 people found the following review helpful.
This revisionist book is a stake in the heart of Madison...
By R. Setliff
Matthew specializes in pseudohistory books for New York's limousine liberal crowd. This book is a downright distortive pseudohistory that dwells on one Madison quote and inteprets Madison's whole political philosophy as some proto-authoritarian republican advocating a strong central government and "Machiavellian" politics to maintain "stability." The author essentially muddles his own socialistic, authoritarian philosophy on politics with that of James Madison. He tries to reintepret the history of the Presidency of Madison along these lines.
7 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
Seriously?
By cpen22
I would recommend that anyone looking to understand James Madison reads his actual writings. The Federalist Papers may be a somewhat difficult read, due to the archaic English, but they completely demolish any theory of a James Madison that wants a powerful central government. Better yet, The Original Argument: The Federalists' Case for the Constitution, Adapted for the 21st Century has updated the language for an easier read. The title of the book even references such a quote, although it does not give full context. Just for those interested, the full quote is below:
"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. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions."
The author is right about one thing, and one thing only. Madison was a consistent liberal. However, only in the 19th century definition of that word, which meant a very limited and constrained government, and a maximum of personal liberty. The belief that government power and personal liberty are not at odds is something only an irrational person could possibly believe.
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