Noah Feldman on Madison’s Three Lives
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Institute
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 16 December 2017
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
President James Madison shaped the course of American history in not one, not two, but three different and foundational roles in the formation of the young republic. He was a drafter of the constitution, a leader of the Democratic-Republican party, and America’s first wartime president. In a sweeping biography, Noah Feldman traces Madison’s distinct roles and their resonance in current politics in his new book “The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President.” Jack Goldsmith recently interviewed Noah Feldman on the book. Together, they discussed Madison’s dynamic role in shaping America’s Constitution, his influence on national security, including the use of economic sanctions, and much more.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The following podcast contains advertising. |
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| 0:22.0 | rational security, chatter, law fair no bull, and the aftermath. |
| 0:29.0 | And the principle was that if you can't exercise your liberties, |
| 0:37.0 | there's no point in having a republic at all. |
| 0:39.0 | You know, they want to go, let them go. |
| 0:41.0 | They want to walk. That is their deep, you know, fundamental right, |
| 0:45.0 | at least to talk about doing that. |
| 0:47.0 | And that's a kind of extraordinary perspective that's hard to imagine |
| 0:51.0 | subsequent presidents adopting. |
| 0:53.0 | But to me, that is the most significant takeaway for a Madison. |
| 0:55.0 | He had seen this edition act. He did not want to do that. |
| 0:57.0 | He genuinely did not repress freedom of speech. |
| 1:00.0 | And he tried to fight the war that he did fight within the realm of Republican principles. |
| 1:06.0 | He still believed in the possibility of a relatively limited government. |
| 1:10.0 | And he did want to expand US territory, but he did not want the US to become a global superpower. |
| 1:14.0 | That Hamiltonian vision was still more than a century away. |
| 1:18.0 | I'm Matthew Khan, and this is the LawFair podcast, December 16, 2017. |
| 1:25.0 | President James Madison shaped the course of American history, and not one, |
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