The second floor of Montpelier is home to Madison’s personal library. Today the well-lit room is empty, except for rows of benches and a modern LCD flat screen monitor on the south wall. Visitors are treated to a three minute audio-visual presentation about the writing of the U.S. Constitution. In Madison’s time the library was crammed with hundreds of books in multiple languages that Madison researched in his quest to create a new form of government that would guide a young nation into an uncertain future. What struck me as I heard the story for a second time was Madison’s ability to analyze two thousand years of political thought as recorded in these volumes and use them to imagine a future for his country.
By the time Madison wrote the basic framework for a constitution he was already well-educated and had some experience as a Virginia legislator. The nation was being governed under the original Articles of Confederation but it was obvious they were too weak and ineffective to stand the test of time. Madison envisioned something more innovative that could harness the country’s independent spirit without trampling the liberties its citizens had fought so hard to secure. He spent five months researching political thought, philosophy, and theology to discern the best and worst of recorded history.
We know his final model featured a limited central government with three branches designed to provide checks and balances of power. The Republic he imagined would delegate nearly all powers to the independent states. Later Madison would help draft a Bill of Rights, the first amendments to the new constitution, to further explain the citizen’s liberties under this new form of representative government.
Imagining a new future begins with existing ideas and experiences. Madison context included his childhood upbringing, his education and mentoring at the hands of enlightenment thinkers, the writings of hundreds of thought leaders, his moral and religious beliefs, and his connection to the farming environment where he made his home.
Although diminutive in stature and somewhat reserved in public, Madison was undeterred in sharing his imagined future at the first Continental Congress. His research and detailed notes made it easier to argue compellingly for his position and to mediate differences with political foes. Madison never shied away from opposing points of view. Instead, he used these conversations to further sharpen the vision of our nation that he was imagining. Eventually his innovative model was embraced by the delegate body and ratified as a new governing framework.
Many of our business and political leaders regularly offer their visions for the future of their company or our country. Unfortunately many of these imagined futures lack the substance required for them to actually be implemented. Madison took the necessary time to carefully research his ideas. He formulated a strategy for sharing his vision that could be understood by his fellow convention delegates. As an astute listener and skilled negotiator, Madison didn’t rush the process but patiently shepherded his imagined future through the many iterations required so it could be unanimously accepted.
Perhaps there are only a handful of leaders with the intellect and tenacity of Madison who can imagine a new future for an enterprise or a nation. Or might it be that too many of us lack the discipline, patience, and moral beliefs to begin the process in the first place? Are we simply content to accept the status quo rather than reinvent or imagine something new? Madison would surely be disappointed.
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