Customer Reviews

The Business of May Next: James Madison and the Founding

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The Busines of May Next is easily the best book I have ever read on James Madison's intellectual journey from his dismay over the ineffectiveness of the Articles of Confederation to his draft of the Virginia Plan, which was the underlying foundation of our Constitution.

The title is taken from a letter Madison wrote in which he discussed the "business" of the upcoming Constitutional Convention (in May of 1789), of which Madison--along with Alexander Hamiltion--was the prime mover.

Miller's book expertly and eloquently explores the influences on Madison's thinking, from his reading of David Hume's essays on the ideal conditions for a republic, to his correspondence with Washington, Jefferson and many others in which he fleshed out his ideas of how to turn the weak, ineffectual Articles into a government that had both power and staying power.

As Miller points out, Madison's genius was his understanding of human behavior, and his awareness that any government must be shaped in ways that take advantage of the "better angels of our nature," but also (more important) minimize, or at least accommodate, the darker side of our nature.

By fashioning a government with limited and shared powers; by holding frequent elections in which the leaders are held accountable; by ensuring that the people possess certain rights that no government can threaten (on pain of being altered or abolished), Madison was the first among equals in the creation of a truly representative government that has lasted more than 200 years and shows no signs of dying out.

Miller himself is one of the few (William Manchester is another) historians whose thorough research is matched by his delightful writing style. I have two copies of the book--a hardcopy for reading and a paperback for underlining.

A masterful book about an important framer of the US Constitution.
An instructive example how teamwork helped develop and ratify the Constitution.

Eloquently quoted on p.216: (at the closing of the Virginia ratifying convention)

"... The warmest (hottest?) opponents were seen to exchange parting regards with each other. For it was a peculiar and noble characteristic of our fathers, when the contest was decided, to forgive and forget personal collisions, and to unite heart and hand in the common cause. ..."

It seems American politics has forgotten this basic creed followed by the founders of our country.

My email to Professor Miller:
Congratulations on your excellent study of Madison and the framers of the Constitution. As I reach the last 100 pages I noticed that you feel Madison and the other framers did not do as much as they could to start to end slavery in the Constitution. The state equality issue and religious freedom are dealt with okay, but slavery was relatively neglected.

I think the reason was a practical one of either creating a strong nation united in a more-or-less common cause, or risking a fatally divided nation. Later, the US was strong enough to survive an inevitable Civil War because of the strong start supported by Alexander Hamilton and the other founders and framers.

My study of the history of England has shown me that commerce is the engine of successful politics.

Thank you again for a truly inspiring book. Much food for thought.

Yours Sincerely,
Jay Lockie, retired in Mexico
S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1963
M.B.A. Northwestern University, 1965
Facebook: "Jay Lilia Lockie"

This is a very good discussion of Madison's role in the development of the Consitution. Very readabl