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The Father of the Constitution: The First Inaugural Address of James Madison
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Published:November 2024
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Abstract
This chapter studies the First Inaugural Address of James Madison. After assuring his listeners of the profound sense of duty impressed upon him “by the call of my Country” to the presidency, Madison candidly pronounced “the present situation” of the nation “full of difficulties.” Yet he could not bring himself to blame the country’s political, economic, and diplomatic woes on the preceding administration; that regime had been led by his good friend Thomas Jefferson. Instead, Madison blamed the nation’s misfortunes on the extreme and desperate measures of Great Britain and France. His First Inaugural Address did not offer new policy proposals to deal with the crisis. Perhaps already anticipating a war with Great Britain, Madison assured that his administration would never use events as an excuse to trample personal rights and liberties enshrined in the Bill of Rights that he himself had authored.
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