GOOD TO SEE YOU AND WELCOME IN,
WE ARE KICKING OFF THE NEW YEAR
TALKING ABOUT THE FATHER OF THE
CONSTITUTION.
NOT YOU, BUT SOMEONE ONE WHO YOU
REALLY THINK THE WORLD
OF, AND HAVE STUDIED.
WELL LET ME BACK UP, THIS IS
STEWART HARRIS A PROFESSOR OF
LAW AT THE DUNCAN SCHOOL OF LAW
AT LINCOLN MEMORIAL
UNIVERSITY AND HOST OF YOUR
WEEKLY CONSTITUTIONAL.
GOOD TO HAVE YOU HERE.
YOUR WEEKLY CONSTITUTIONAL HAS
DEEP ROOTS AT MADISON'S
HOME, MONTPELIER, AND YOU ARE
TALKING ABOUT HIM.
I WAS RECENTLY OUT AT
MONTPELIER, MADISON'S
HISTORIC HOME AND THEY OWN THE
RIGHTS TO MY RADIO SHOW, AND I
HAVE A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH
THOSE AT THE CENTER FOR THE
CONSTITUTION.
RECENTLY THEY SAID HEY, COME OUT
WE ARE HAVING A CONFERENCE AND
JACK RAKOVE WILL BE HERE.
ANYONE WHO HAS STUDIED
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW KNOW JACK
RAKOVE.
HE IS ONE OF THE LEADING
SCHOLARS GENERALLY BUT
SPECIFICALLY JAMES MADISON.
HE HAS WRITTEN ANOTHER BOOK
ABOUT MADISON AND THIS ONE IS
CALLED: A POLITICIAN THINKING.
THE CREATIVE MIND OF JAMES
MADISON.
IT WAS AT YOUR INSISTENCE AND
ENCOURAGEMENT THAT I WENT TO
MONTPELIER.
DID YOU HAVE A GOOD TIME?
IT WAS AMAZING, NOT A LONG DRIVE
IN THE SHENANDOAH
VALLEY, AND THEN YOU GO UPSTAIRS
INTO THAT ROOM AND IT IS THERE
THAT HE DID THAT CREATIVE
THINKING THAT LEAD TO THE
CREATION OF THE
US CONSTITUTION.
IS THAT WHERE WE ARE GOING WITH
THIS BOOK? HOW HE GOT TO THAT
POINT?
THE PHOTOGRAPH ON THE COVER IS
THE VIEW FROM THE SECOND
FLOOR LIBRARY.
THE VIEW IS SORT OF A
METAPHORICAL LOOKING AT THE
FUTURE OF THE UNITED STATES.
MADISON FAMOUSLY SPENT MONTHS UP
THERE IN THE WINTER OF
1786-1787, RESEARCHING DEMOCRACY
AND WHY IT HAD
ALWAYS FAILED THROUGHOUT HUMAN
HISTORY.
THAT IS WHERE HE CAME UP WITH
THE IDEA FOR THE VIRGINIA PLAN,
WHICH IS THE BLUEPRINT FOR WHAT
BECAME OUR CONSTITUTION.
REMARKABLE PLACE AND TIME THAT
IT WAS, BECAUSE JUST
DOWN THE STREET, WAS THOMAS
JEFFERSON.
AND DOWN THE STREET THE OTHER
DIRECTION WAS JAMES MONROE.
HE HAD SOME GOOD NEIGHBORS
COALESCING AROUND THIS IDEA
THAT YOU COULD PUT IT DOWN ON
PAPER.
IN FACT I TALKED TO JACK ABOUT
THIS AND HE WAS SAYING, A LOT OF
PEOPLE WONDERED WAS THERE
SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT
THIS PLACE? IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL,
PUT IT AGAINST ANY SCENERY
ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.
IT IS GORGEOUS AND PEACEFUL, AND
IT WAS ON THE NEW FRONTIER AND
THESE PEOPLE WERE LOOKING TO THE
FUTURE AND CONTEMPLATING IT.
I THINK THAT TRULY PLAYED INTO
THE CREATIVE PROCESS OF JAMES
MADISON.
I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING
YOU DELVE INTO THE
CREATIVE MIND OF JAMES MADISON.
YOU CAN HEAR IT THIS AFTERNOON
AT 3:00PM ON WETS 89.5 FM AND
AGAIN
ON TUESDAY AT 8:00PM.
HEARING YOU DELVE INTO THE
CREATIVE MIND OF JAMES MADISON.
YOU CAN HEAR IT THIS AFTERNOON
AT 3:00PM ON WETS 89.5 FM AND
AGAIN
ON TUESDAY AT 8:00PM.
