James Ceaser on James Madison as the First American Founder

Did James Madison invent the idea of the American founding? Why do we venerate the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and the figures who wrote and defended our founding documents? In this Conversation, University of Virginia politics professor James Ceaser explains how in 1787 James Madison deliberately encouraged the drafters of the Constitution in Philadelphia and other Americans to conceive of their project as a “founding.” Madison did so, according to Ceaser, to elevate the project beyond a mere exercise in day-to-day politics or ephemeral lawmaking. He wanted to encourage future generations to venerate—as well as rationally reflect—on the founders and the documents they produced. Ceaser argues that these efforts by Madison, as well as other founders, have had a profound effect on how Americans think about the role of reason, tradition, and law in politics. Kristol and Ceaser also consider the extent to which the Constitution and founders still influence our politics.