James Madison's Montpelier We The People Spring 2018 WTP_Spring_2018_FINAL_web | Page 12

WE THE PEOPLE
On Presidents’ Day, Montpelier welcomed Madison biographer
Noah Feldman for a standing-room-only talk and book signing.
UNDERSTANDING MADISON’S IMPACT
ON WORLD DEMOCRACY
A conversation with Constitutional scholar and Madison
biographer Noah Feldman
Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan,
Few scholars today share Noah Feldman’s
perspective on James Madison, the Father of
President (Random House, 2017).
the U.S. Constitution. After all, Feldman was
in his early 30s in 2003
As a Felix Frankfurter Professor
“I chose to write about Madison
when he was asked to serve
of Law at Harvard Law School,
as senior constitutional
because I’m a constitutions person. Feldman is perfectly placed to
advisor to the Coalition
I care about the Constitution. It’s
address Madison’s relevance in
Provisional Authority in
contemporary conversations
what I do for a living, not just in
Iraq, and subsequently
the United States but globally. And with a rising generation of legal
advised members of the Iraqi
scholars and practitioners, a
Governing Council on the
Madison really is the Einstein of
conversation he feels is crucial to
drafting of the Transitional
constitutions...” —Noah Feldman
the future of global governance.
Administrative Law or
interim constitution. It was Feldman’s commitment We spoke to him by phone just a week before he was
scheduled to address Montpelier members at our
to constitutional government that led him to
undertake his recent biography of Madison, The
annual Presidents’ Day talk.
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