James Madison was the fourth president of the United States, but he's most likely best known as "the father of the Constitution" who helped bring America the Bill of Rights. In his biography of the diminutive statesman, Richard Brookhiser argues that Madison was more than that — he was also the father of American politics. Madison co-founded what was then called the Republican Party (the precursor to today's Democratic Party) and was one of the first Americans to notice — and harness — the power of public opinion. While some books about the founding fathers tend toward hagiography, Brookhiser's portrait of Madison is fair-minded but sometimes critical — he takes a somewhat dim view of Madison's two-term presidency, but still treats his subject