Blood of Tyrants. Logan Beirne
alt="A mere five feet tall and 120 pounds, James Madison was an intellectual giant and a driving force behind the drafting of the Constitution. . . ."/>
A mere five feet tall and 120 pounds, James Madison was an intellectual giant and a driving force behind the drafting of the Constitution. He declared that creating even a “limited monarchy . . . was out of the question” and used his masterful political skills to help form the new republican government. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ppmsca-19166
The wily Benjamin Franklin used his guile to charm the French court—particularly the female contingent. Through parties and chess games, he persuaded the French to send aid to the American cause and eventually declare war on Britain. As the war wound down, he then infuriated the French by working with John Adams and John Jay to outmaneuver them in the peace process. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-pga-01591
CONTENTS
Preface to the Paperback Edition
2 Not as Happy in Peace as They Had Been Glorious in War
III DICTATOR OF AMERICA
13 Scorpion on a Leash
14 Between a Hawk and a Buzzard
15 Onslaught
16 The Times That Try Men’s Souls
17 Reevaluation
18 Victory or Death
19 Idolatry
20 Dictator Perpetuo
IV TRIBUNALS & TRIBULATIONS
21 Gentleman Johnny vs. Granny Gates
22 A Traitor Lurks
23 Treason of the Blackest Dye
24 Commissions & Courts-Martial
25 American Military Justice
V HIS EXCELLENCY’S LOYAL SUBJECTS
26 Total Ruin
27 Band of Brethren
28 Poison & Peas
29 America’s Defender
30 License to Plunder
31 Not-So-Civil War
VI COULD HAVE BEEN KING
32 O God! It Is All Over!
33 Winning the Peace
34 Spectacles & Speculation
35 The Greatest Man in the World
Epilogue: Governing from the Grave
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
PREFACE TO THE PAPERBACK EDITION
“What is past is prologue.” These words, penned by William Shakespeare in The Tempest, are inscribed into the granite of the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. The inscription is fitting when you consider how many recent headlines could have been plucked right out of the American founding era: ASSESSING THE TRADE-OFFS BETWEEN SECURITY AND CIVIL LIBERTIES; or, HOW THE GOVERNMENT SPIED ON ME; or, POW SWAP TOOK PLACE IN A LEGAL GRAY AREA.1 The United States has faced this all before, and our past might offer a guide for our future.
Never was a more compelling prologue written than when the founding generation forged our nation. Whether it is the NSA intercepting Americans’ emails today or the Continental Congress intercepting citizens’ letters during the Revolutionary War, there are parallels between the present day and the nation’s humble beginnings. Technology has changed but our fundamental rights and American values need not.
I was raised in a family and a community where the patriotic spirit of the American Revolution remains very much alive. My parents constantly reminded me, “You are descended from Revolutionary War patriots. James Madison is in your family tree. These people matter!” Yet I found the study of history to be boring. Eventually I realized that it was not the history that was uninteresting, but the way it was often presented. So I left behind the textbooks and sought out the Founders’ writings to hear the story in their own words.