James Madison Quotes
The new Constitution should be ratified in the most unexceptional form, and by the supreme authority of the people themselves.
James Madison, 1751-1836, 4th President of the United States (Democratic Republican, VA), Notes on the Constitutional Convention, June 5, 1787
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The comment was prompted by FDR’s attempt to “pack” the Supreme Court.
Patrick Henry, a political opponent of Madison's, spread rumors in Madison's Virginia home district that Madison was perfectly satisfied with the Constitution as it was drafted. Madison felt the need to set the record straight, and this letter was widely circulated by his friends.
There is a certain redundancy in that “Fenian” means “Party.”
Originally it was published in Boston under the name “A Columbian Patriot.” The “principles to which she referred were the principles set out in our Constitution of 1787.
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For many people the implication of this quotation is that there should be no government secrets withheld from the citizens who have the right to examine. Others argue that government may have temporary secrets to protect against foreign enemies for example, but that these must be declassified very promptly so that the citizens can examine the actions of their government in time to replace the government if they are not satisfied. Almost all government officials tend to reject the first implication out of hand, and grudgingly accept the second with their discretion controlling when declassification should take place. The problem of America is twofold. There is much over-classification (material kept secret that should not be at all), and the time till declassification is long in general and truly absurd in many cases. For example, there are documents from WWII that by 2013 had still not been declassified. See {591444}, {641317}, and {589105} for exemplar views. William Jennings Bryan introduced this principle into the American political dialogue. See {641027}.
In a 1949 dissenting opinion in Terminiello v. Chicago Jackson claimed the majority view would “convert the Bill of Rights into a suicide pact.”
James Madison Jr. was an American statesman, diplomat, expansionist, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. He is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United States and the United States Bill of Rights. He co-wrote The Federalist Papers, co-founded the Democratic-Republican Party, and served as the fifth United States Secretary of State from 1801 to 1809.
