{"product_id":"james-madison","title":"James Madison: America's First Politician by Jay Cost","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn intellectual biography of James Madison, arguing that he invented American politics as we know it \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHow do you solve a problem like James Madison? The fourth president is one of the most confounding figures in early American history; his political trajectory seems almost intentionally inconsistent. He was both for and against a strong federal government. He wrote about the dangers of political parties in the Federalist Papers and then helped to found the Republican Party just a few years later. This so-called Madison problem has occupied scholars for ages. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs Jay Cost shows in this incisive new biography, the underlying logic of Madison’s seemingly mixed record comes into focus only when we understand him primarily as a working politician. Whereas other founders split their time between politics and other vocations, Madison dedicated himself singularly to the work of politics and ultimately developed it into a distinctly American idiom. He was, in short, the first American politician.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Landmark Booksellers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42007165370608,"sku":"9781541699557","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0586\/1385\/8477\/products\/content_9661e067-e677-4287-9791-64367e2c2958.jpg?v=1636045876","url":"https:\/\/landmark-booksellers.myshopify.com\/products\/james-madison","provider":"Landmark Booksellers","version":"1.0","type":"link"}