Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, The Bill of Rights, and The Election that Saved a Nation [Hardcover]

Chris DeRose (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 14, 2011

The Amazing True Story of the Election That Saved the Constitution

In 1789, James Madison and James Monroe ran against each other for Congress—the only time that two future presidents have contested a congressional seat.

But what was at stake, as author Chris DeRose reveals in Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, the Bill of Rights, and the Election That Saved a Nation, was more than personal ambition. This was a race that determined the future of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the very definition of the United States of America.

Friends and political allies for most of their lives, Madison was the Constitution’s principal author, Monroe one of its leading opponents. Monroe thought the Constitution gave the federal government too much power and failed to guarantee fundamental rights. Madison believed that without the Constitution, the United States would not survive.

It was the most important congressional race in American history, more important than all but a few presidential elections, and yet it is one that historians have virtually ignored. In Founding Rivals, DeRose, himself a political strategist who has fought campaigns in Madison and Monroe’s district, relives the campaign, retraces the candidates’ footsteps, and offers the first insightful, comprehensive history of this high-stakes political battle.

DeRose reveals:

• How Madison’s election ensured the passage of a Bill of Rights—and how
  Monroe’s election would have ensured its failure
  
• How Madison came from behind to win a narrow victory (by a margin of only 336 votes) in a district gerrymandered against him
  
• How the Bill of Rights emerged as a campaign promise to Virginia’s evangelical Christians
  
• Why Madison’s defeat might have led to a new Constitutional Convention—and the breakup of the United States

Founding Rivals tells the extraordinary, neglected story of two of America’s most important Founding Fathers. Brought to life by unparalleled research, it is one of the most provocative books of American political history you will read this year.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Madison’s 1789 election to Congress embroiders histories of the establishment of the Constitution (James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights, by Richard Lebunski, 2006), but in DeRose’s account, it’s the main event. Perhaps drawn toward this campaign trail by his background as a contemporary political consultant, DeRose depicts what in retrospect was a critical contest, given Madison’s subsequent centrality to creating the Bill of Rights and the principal government departments. His opponent was none other than fellow future president James Monroe, then an opponent of the Constitution. Thrown together in a gerrymandered district whose anti-Federalist tincture favored Monroe, he and Madison campaigned through snowy northern Virginia in January 1789, expounding their views in courthouses and churches. Madison’s promise to codify religious freedom, DeRose suggests, might have gained him the Baptist and Lutheran vote; in any case, he squeaked past Monroe by 336 votes. Building up to this result with the duo’s political and personal relations in the 1780s, DeRose applies a dramatizing hand to a topic scholastically grounded in Ratification, by Pauline Maier (2010). --Gilbert Taylor

Review

Praise for Founding Rivals

“Long before they fought the War of 1812 and planted the seeds of Manifest Destiny, James Madison and James Monroe fought each other over a seat in the First Congress. Their epic campaign—revolving around the size and scope of government, its taxing power, and a nation awash in debt—is America in microcosm. (It’s also frighteningly relevant to our twenty-first-century democracy.) It is a fascinating story, told here by a gifted young historian, as promising as his protagonists. Thoroughly researched and gracefully written, Founding Rivals is narrative history of the most readable kind.”
—Richard Norton Smith, author of Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation and founding director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

“Compelling narrative throughout. . . . A lively, clear-cut study of the myriad hurdles and uncertainty that characterized the first attempts to form the U.S. government.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“An engaging account of the Republic’s contentious founding.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Is there anyone in America who wouldn’t want their next congressional election to feature a choice between James Madison and James Monroe? As Chris DeRose shows us in this fascinating new book, one lucky district, Virginia’s 5th (which happens to be my own), got this lucky pick in 1789. Few single contests have ever been more important for the nation’s future. Just like today, past elections were high-stakes affairs with enormous consequences. Unlike today, the big issues could once be argued on center stage between friends, in a spirit of unity and harmony.”
—Professor Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and author of A More Perfect Constitution

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Regnery History (November 14, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159698192X
• ISBN-13: 978-1596981928
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.2 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #534,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

www.chrisderosebooks.com

Chris DeRose is the author of "Congressman Lincoln: The Making of America's Greatest President" (Simon & Schuster/Threshold) and "Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, the Bill of Rights, and the Election that Saved a Nation" (Regnery History).

A native of Illinois, Chris volunteered on his first political campaign at the age of 15, and worked in the political organization for the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. He has since served in a variety of roles for candidates up and down the ballot across five different states. He served as Director of Election Day Operations for the Governor of Virginia, overseeing 250 lawyers and 1,200 volunteers in the most comprehensive election integrity effort in American history. Following that race, he managed the early efforts of Congressman Sean Duffy, who drove the 42-year incumbent Appropriations Chairman into retirement.

A graduate of Pepperdine University's School of Law, DeRose has practiced extensively in the Arizona courts, handling everything from complex civil litigation to serious felony cases. Notable results include winning a motion for summary judgment on a case of first impression three months after being licensed to practice, where his client faced $400,000 in exposure and the loss of their business, as well as a pro bono case where he won the reversal of a wrongfully convicted person on Constitutional grounds. He is presently an adjunct professor of law, teaching legal research and writing and election law.

DeRose volunteers locally on a number of boards and commissions, including his local planning and zoning committee and the governing board of Phoenix Collegiate Academy, an inner-city charter school serving 95% Title I students, providing a seamless path to college for hundreds of at-risk students.

When he's not writing, teaching, practicing law, volunteering, or researching, Chris can often be found managing his travel addiction by exploring some new corner of the world.

In 2012, DeRose wrote the cover story of the History Channel magazine for their series on "The Men Who Built America." His debut book was named by The Washington Post as one of the "Best Political Books of 2011."

He lives in Phoenix, Arizona, and is a member of Redemption Christian Church.

www.chrisderosebooks.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Founding Rivals: A Five Star Book on the Race that Gave us the Bill of Rights November 6, 2011

By Heather Macre

Format:Hardcover

Did you know that the Bills of Rights began as a campaign promise made during a 1789 Congressional election between two would-be presidents - James Madison and James Monroe? Friends and adversaries, the two squared off in a dramatic race, chronicled in Founding Rivals - the only Congressional election in which voters have ever been asked to decide between two people who would go on to become president. The election would save the U.S. Constitution as we know it and add the Bill of Rights. Founding Rivals tells the previously unreported story of Madison and Monroe's involvement in the Revolutionary War and the earliest days of our republic, the tough financial times brought on by war and rebuilding, a Congress in complete disarray (sound familiar?), and an election that would determine if the Constitution would be scrapped altogether and if the addition of a Bill of Rights would happen. The race bears many of the hallmarks of today's political scene, complete with mud-slinging, intense partisanship and a result achieved by the narrowest of margins.

Founding Rivals is a swift and compelling read, a must for anyone with an interest in U.S. history and modern politics. DeRose's writing style is clear, concise and accessible. The book is well researched and documented, and DeRose's words put Colonial life in perspective, while making parallels to today's political situation with ease. This book highlights an oft ignored aspect of our nation's history, at once showing how far we have come and yet how people and politics remain unchanged over time.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Riveting Tale of Just How Close America Came to Falling Apart at the Very Beginning November 7, 2011

By Chris Ashby

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I can't believe this story has not been told until now -- two future presidents, facing off in an election for Congress, with the fate of the Constitution and the survival of the young nation literally hanging in the balance. And yet it is attorney, political strategist and first-time author Chris DeRose who, for the first time, is telling "Founding Rivals," the story of the 1789 election that pitted James Madison against James Monroe in Virginia's 5th congressional district.

DeRose is a smooth, witty and engaging writer with an incredible eye for color and detail. The result is a book that is easy and interesting to read. But the book is also a remarkably compelling read because the prologue sets the stage. Thus, the reader knows from page ix exactly what's at stake as these two founding fathers' lives, political careers and philosophies develop and then eventually collide in a titanic election in which far more than just their names were on the ballot -- Madison vs. Monroe, Federalism vs. Anti-Federalism, a Bill of Rights vs. a new constitutional convention, the survival of a Nation vs. the breakup of the Union. In a book that covers the better part of two decades, DeRose deftly moves the story along without sacrificing character, political and historical insight. The book advances at a great pace.

I highly recommend "Founding Rivals," especially for anyone interested in history or politics. It's a riveting story, well-told, of just how close our country came -- 336 votes -- to falling apart at the very beginning.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read for Anyone Interested in the Early Republic November 7, 2011

By James C. Slattery

Format:Hardcover

"No residents of a U.S. congressional district have ever had a better selection of candidates since the 5th District of Virginia in the election of 1789." And will we ever again? Chris DeRose's masterly new book tells the story of this little known but critically important race between future presidents James Madison and James Monroe for a seat in the First Congress -- the only contest in American history between two future presidents in a non-presidential race. DeRose explains that this election deserves more attention than history has given it, because Madison's victory in this election enabled him to win the passage and ratification of the Bill of Rights, the location of the national capitol along the Potomac, and quite likely the preservation of the Union. Beyond taking us for a blow by blow tour through this strikingly modern campaign and its aftermath, DeRose also guides us through the lives of the two men at the heart of the struggle for the 5th District. Their friendship and political alliance, tested nearly to the breaking point when they found themselves in opposite parties in 1789, form the real heart of this engaging account of a pivotal moment in our history.

As DeRose lucidly explains, by the time Madison and Monroe contested over the 5th District, a decade under the Articles of Confederation had left the country dangerously adrift. The central government was too weak to impose its will on either its domestic or foreign enemies, whether it be state governments that ignored their obligations to fund the federal government, the British who continued to occupy forts in the Northwest, the Spanish who ignored American demands for free navigation of the Mississippi, or Western settlers who flirted with independence. As a result, the United States faced the prospect of bankruptcy, foreign invasion, and possibly dissolution, unless it gave the federal government enough power to raise revenues on its own to support the common defense. Something had to be done, and a convention of delegates meeting in Philadelphia proposed a new constitution dramatically expanding the powers of the federal government. After a fierce and bitter struggle, eleven of the thirteen states ratified the Constitution and the first post-ratification elections to Congress were held in early 1789.

Into this maelstrom stepped the two protagonists of DeRose's book. Madison earned the sobriquet "Father of the Constitution" because his proposals became the core of the Constitution devised at Philadelphia. But his achievement was not yet secure: the Anti-Federalists were mobilizing for a counter-offensive in the 1789 elections amid calls for a new constitutional convention. While the Anti-Federalists argued that a new convention was necessary to draft a Bill of Rights, Madison knew that a new convention would likely include many more opponents of the federal government than the original convention and would lead to a watered down document unable to cope with the country's internal and external threats. To avert such a calamity, Madison stepped forward as a candidate to the First Congress. Much to his surprise, he discovered that his opponent was his longtime friend, Monroe. Though the two had struggled together to strengthen the Confederation government, Monroe departed from his friend over the Constitution, opposing ratification of the Constitution because he concluded it centralized power too much and failed to include a Bill of Rights. During the course of this election, Madison promised to support a Bill of Rights, and as the leading congressional Federalist his support ensured its ratification. And that ratification reconciled many opponents to the new constitutional order and permanently blunted the dangerous calls for a new convention.

DeRose brings all this to light with a highly readable, engaging narrative style. His account of the lives of Madison and Monroe reveal them in all their humanity and all too real friendship, such as the devastating end to Madison's engagement and Monroe's anxieties about securing his family financial future. Indeed, DeRose describes vividly how their friendship nearly takes a tragic turn when their principles compel them to run against each other, and how their friendship endured despite this turbulence. And because these two men, separately or together, witnessed virtually all the major events of their age, this book allows the reader to take a front seat to the founding of the Republic. This book -- part history of the early Republic, part case study in congressional campaigns, and part dual biography of two fascinating men -- is a must read for any lover of American history.