James Madison University - Index

James Madison University - Liberty & Learning - Index

Preface
I
n recent years, America’s founding fathers have enjoyed a remarkable
resurgence in popularity. Even the popular news media have rediscovered
these visionary creators of the early republic. Time magazine,
U.S. News & World Report, and other popular periodicals regularly
feature cover stories chronicling the legacies of Thomas Jefferson,
Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington. 1 To the general public,
this secular trinity comprises an American pantheon of wise, unselfish,
and civic-minded leaders. Their conduct and achievement serve
as an effective counterpoint to the pedestrian debates and petty distractions that
too often characterize contemporary political life.
Today’s historians are writing prolifically about this founding trio’s contributions
to the American experiment. Joseph Ellis, in particular, has written several
excellent books on the era, including His Excellency: George Washington,
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, American Sphinx: The Character
of Thomas Jefferson, and American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the
Founding of the Republic. Likewise, Bill Brands’ widely respected book, The First
American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin, was a finalist for the Pulitzer
Prize and was made into a highly acclaimed PBS special. Other, less-appreciated
leaders of the Federalist era have also drawn renewed attention from modern
biographers. In 2001, for instance, renowned historian David McCullough
received widespread acclaim for his massive, 768-page book, John Adams. “David
McCullough’s new full-scale biography of Adams, a lucid and compelling work
that should do for Adams’s reputation what Mr. McCullough’s 1992 book, Truman,
did for Harry S Truman,” 2 lauded the New York Times. The work did much
to restore Adams’s historical reputation, which had been severely tarnished by
the passage of the notorious Alien and Sedition Acts during his administration
as well as by his well-known obstinate and inflexible personality. Adams himself
wrote openly about his tainted legacy in 1802. “Having been the Object of Misrepresentation,
some of my Posterity may probably wish to see in my own hand
1