SOURCE: Howard, A. E. Dick. “James Madison and the Founding of the Republic.” In James Madison on Religious Liberty, edited by Robert S. Alley, pp. 21-34. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1985.

In the following essay, Howard discusses Madison's role in formulating the Constitution and founding the republic.

James Madison—by common consent, the Father of the nation's Constitution—was in many ways an unlikely candidate for the historic role he played in the founding of our republic. Madison was not what we today would call “charismatic”; indeed, for strong personality, it is Dolley, not James, that history remembers.

Unprepossessing in appearance—he stood only five feet six inches tall—and often in ill health during his early years, Madison lacked the majestic bearing, physical prowess, and martial skills of George Washington. His prose, while copious and competent, missed the bite of Paine or the elegance and lucidity of...