Tyson Reeder’s book traces early America’s rocky beginnings, when foreign interference and political conflict threatened to undermine its aspirations and ideals, even its very existence. Spanning the period from the Revolution to the War of 1812, and focusing on the presidency of James Madison, it reveals a nation adjusting to rancorous partisan politics, aggravated by the untested and imperfect new tools of governance and the growing power of media.

No figure was more in the center of it all than James Madison. As a leading delegate at the Constitutional Convention, Republican congressional leader, secretary of state, and president, Madison grappled with foreign meddling for over three decades. He emerged as a political leader, feeding the very partisanship that bred foreign intrigues. As chief executive, he presided over the calamitous barrage of accusations and counteraccusations of foreign collusion that culminated in the War of 1812.

The United States remains vulnerable to forces that test whether the constitutional system Madison was so central in implementing can withstand outside meddling while accommodating partisan conflict. Madison’s successes and failures, along with his original vision of the Constitution and party politics, illuminate the ongoing struggle between domestic polarization and foreign interference.