Spring 2009 - Seattle University

Alumni
F O C U S
Bookmarks
James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights by Richard Labunski, ’94 JD
Anyone who has taken an American history class can probably give a vague timeline or description
of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. If you can tick off the names of a few of the Founding
Fathers, and maybe a couple of dates, you may even pass for a history buff. But if you feel intellectually
challenged by this topic, not to worry. Author Richard Labunski, ’94 JD, a journalism professor
at the University of Kentucky, can help you beef up your knowledge of the Bill of Rights and,
more importantly, acquaint you with James Madison, the man behind the document.
While most people know about the amendments in the Bill of Rights, many may not know much
about Madison, who was central in its drafting and ratification. In James Madison and the Struggle
for the Bill of Rights, Labunski introduces the reader to the man who was, historically, often in the
shadows of his better-known counterparts George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
Labunski describes Madison as a gentle, shy and intellectual man, plagued by frequent illness and
what today would be considered “geeky” tendencies. At just over 5 feet tall, Madison was almost
an entire foot shorter than the towering Washington and Jefferson. But Madison’s impact on
American democracy was anything but inferior.
The book focuses on the period from 1787 to 1789, nearly a decade before Madison’s presidency,
when Virginia’s ratification of the first 10 amendments of the Constitution was hanging in the
balance. With painstaking detail the author chronicles Madison’s struggles to sanction the Bill
of Rights, most notably against the Constitution’s biggest opponent, Anti-Federalist Patrick Henry.
With James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights, Labunski clearly narrates the impassioned
and complex debates between Henry and Madison, and you can almost feel the
heat when he describes how both politicians and their colleagues braved the sweltering
summer of 1787 to discuss the future of the United States and the Constitution.
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Writing of Madison’s struggles with the Bill of Rights, Labunski sets up a kind of underdog
tale. It’s hard not to root for its protagonist as Madison quarrels with the Anti-
Federalists. It’s a story with universal appeal that transcends generations, from curious
students to history junkies. Labunski’s insightful narrative creates a high level of
suspense as he details the challenges that nearly derailed the drafting of the Bill
of Rights. His prose is intellectual but not haughty, explanatory but never dull, and
easy to read without being condescending. The end result: James Madison is a
veritable page-turner.
—Maura Beth Pagano, ’12
40 | Alumni Focus