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Full Description
A story of espionage, shadow diplomacy, foreign scheming, and domestic backstabbing in the formative years of the American republic.
Tyson Reeder's book traces early America's rocky beginnings, when foreign interference and political conflict threatened to undermine its aspirations and ideals, even its very existence. Spanning the period from the Revolution to the War of 1812, and focusing particularly on the presidency of James Madison, it reveals a nation adjusting to rancorous partisan politics, aggravated by the untested and imperfect new tools of governance and the growing power of media. Foreign powers, mainly Great Britain and Napoleonic France, exploited these conditions to advance their own agendas, interfering in U.S. elections to promote the outcome they favored. Dissent and disloyalty became dangerously interdigitated, nearly bringing the new republic to the brink of collapse.
No figure was more in the center of it all than James Madison. As a leading delegate at the Constitutional Convention, Republican congressional leader, secretary of state, and president, Madison grappled with foreign meddling for over three decades. At the same time, he emerged as a political leader, feeding the very partisanship that bred foreign intrigues. As chief executive, he presided over the calamitous barrage of accusations and counteraccusations of foreign collusion that culminated in the War of 1812. Madison left a mixed but indelible legacy: as a fierce adversary of foreign interference, a fiery champion of political debate, and a partisan operative who facilitated the former by inflaming the latter.
Forged in partisan conflict, the United States remains vulnerable to forces that test whether the constitutional system Madison was so central in implementing can withstand outside meddling while accommodating partisan conflict. Madison's successes and failures, along with his original vision of the Constitution and party politics, illuminate the ongoing struggle between domestic polarization and foreign interference.
Contents
Introduction: The Spy and the Con Artist The Politician Partisans Sovereigns The West The Crisis Chapter 1: "Guile in the Garden" The Theorist The Council Allies Peace Congress Confederacies Chapter 2: "Calamities from Abroad" The Journey The River The Mansion The Convention The General Federalists Separatists Chapter 3: "The Epoch of Party Formation" The Cabinet Partners Number 7 Backchannels Debt Boarders Parties Chapter 4: "Kindling Parties" The Mission Vox Populi Vox Dei Terrorism Games Chapter 5: "A Vile Underhand Game" Marriages Fires Number 10 Accusations Whispers Opponents Farewells Chapter 6: "Jefferson's Election as President" Candidates The Election The Conspiracy The Bribe The Pole Shade Strategy Chapter 7: "Embryo of a Tornado" Chess Storms The Inauguration The Territory The Secretary Neighbors The Purchase The Minority Chapter 8: "Corrupting the Citizens" The Gulf The Proposal The Recall The Press Argent Sovereignty The Venezuelan The People Chapter 9: "The Burr Fever" Merry Yrujo Number 13 Arrests Blame Prisoners The Trial Chapter 10: "The Election of Mr. Madison" Conflict
Embargo Documents The Junto The Spy The Suit Chapter 11: "Murdered By British Intrigue" Land Prophetstown The Treaty The Battle The Triumvirate Chapter 12: "A Serpent, in the Shape of a Spy" The Irishman The Count Trust Distrust Names Eden The Message Epilogue: The Fall of Washington Flames Madisons Legacy Notes
