James & Dolley Madison: America's First Power Couple

ISBN-13: 9781616148355 / Angielski / Twarda / 2014 / 456 str.

Bruce Chadwick

Opis

This revealing new portrait of James and Dolley Madison introduces the reader to "America's first power couple." Using newly uncovered troves of letters at the University of Virginia, historian Bruce Chadwick has been able to reconstruct the details of the Madisons' personal and political lives. Based on this archive, the author argues that our fourth president--the architect of the Constitution--owed much of his success to the political savvy of his wife. And Dolley, through her many social skills, created the dynamic role of First Lady that we know today.
Within the new historical papers are remarkable stories of Dolley's parties and her backdoor politicking. Their letters show Madison not as a boring, average president--as some historians have maintained--but as a vibrant, tough leader, a very successful commander in chief who changed America. These documents also help to paint a searing portrait of the Madisons' struggles with their irresponsible son and outline how their lifelong funding of his whims brought about their own demise.
Blending the personal and the political, this is a fascinating portrait of a couple whose life together contributed so much to the future course of our nation.