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Jack Rakove

Series

The Learning Curve1 episode

Recent Episodes

The Learning Curve
The Learning Curve

Stanford’s Pulitzer-Winning Prof. Jack Rakove on James Madison, The Federalist Papers, & U.S. Constitutionalism

This week on “The Learning Curve," Cara and Gerard talk with Dr. Jack Rakove, Coe Professor of History and American Studies and Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Stanford University, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution. Professor Rakove reviews the biography of James Madison, often called the "Father of the Constitution," and the influence of classical and Enlightenment learning on his farsighted political thought and leadership. They discuss key arguments from Madison's essays in The Federalist Papers that should inform civics lessons today and his crucial role at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. In addition, they explore Madison's handling of the three-fifths clause and slavery, the central moral and constitutional problem of the Founding era. Professor Rakove explains Madison's involvement, along with Thomas Jefferson, in America’s first opposition political party, and the bitter partisan politics of the 1790s. They conclude with a reading from Dr.
Hosts:
Cara CandalGerard Robinson
Organization
Pioneer Institute