The following is adapted from the book Lessons in Liberty: Thirty Rules for Living from Ten Extraordinary Americans.
Happy 273rd birthday to James Madison, the most egregiously underappreciated, sadly uncelebrated, and unfairly unsung American in the history of the United States.
Consider the list of his towering achievements: Father of the American Constitution, formulator of American federalism, collaborator of The Federalist Papers, de facto doula of the Bill of Rights, and the fourth president of the United States.
Yet there is no significant monument in Washington, D.C., celebrating Madison’s titanic contributions to the American self-government experiment. No American temple featuring quotes chiseled in marble, no miniaturized version of his home, no statue strategically placed on the National Mall, no allusion to membership in the American Mount Olympus.
While Americans, especially schoolchildren yearning for a day off in the middle of February, are well acquainted with the twin birthdays of Lincoln and Washington, tragically few know of Madison’s March 16 birthday. Madison isn’t molded onto Mount Rushmore, nor is he headlined on Broadway every evening. He is ignominiously ranked in the middle of the pack by presidential historians, and unlike Washington and Franklin who are forever loved and celebrated, or Adams and Hamilton who have both enjoyed a modern renaissance in the past two decades due to sympathetic and best-selling historians, Madison’s place in the pantheon of American titans is decidedly underwhelming.
Perhaps the best way to honor Madison on his birthday is to recognize that we have much to learn from
