The History Book Club discussion

This is the glossary and bibliography thread for James Madison: A Biography by Ralph Ketchum.

by Ralph Louis Ketcham (no photo)

Honoring Ralph Ketchum:

https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/ketcham/

Source: Syracuse

Maxwell School Mourns Legendary Teacher and Scholar Ralph Ketcham



Ralph Ketcham, one of the longest-serving and most beloved and influential professors in the history of the Maxwell School, died on Wednesday, April 26, after a brief illness. He was 89.

A steadfast champion of the Maxwell approach to citizenship education — interdisciplinary, team-taught, and driven by deliberation on current events — Ketcham joined the faculty in 1951 as a graduate fellow and instructor in the original undergraduate citizenship course, Cit 1: Responsible Citizenship. After earning his PhD in American studies from the Maxwell School (1956), he taught briefly at the University of Chicago and Yale University, then rejoined Maxwell in 1963 as a tenure-track faculty member, eventually holding appointments in political science, history, public affairs, and American studies. In 1994, he was named a Maxwell Professor of Citizenship and Public Affairs. He retired in 1997, the subject of a colloquium attend by roughly 75 alumni, but continued to teach an annual graduate symposium on Foundations of American Political Thought. Prior to his death, he had made plans to teach that symposium one final time this coming fall.

Though Cit 1 was discontinued in the early 1970s, Ketcham continued to promote team-taught and other innovative approaches to the topic of democratic governance and citizenship. In the 1980s, he was a key member of a faculty team that launched public affairs courses with titles such as Religion and Politics and The Corporation in American Culture, team-taught by faculty members across the University (including Ketcham himself). These courses were viewed as direct precursors to the highly successful MAX Course program launched at Maxwell in the late 1990s. Ketcham was also one of the designers of a New York State high school curriculum about participation in government.

"As much as anyone to have served this School, Ralph Ketcham embodied the mission and unique philosophical province of Maxwell," said Dean David M. Van Slyke, who served on the faculty with Ketcham for more than a decade. "He was dedicated to dialog and discussion and a true exchange of ideas — genuine, expansive debate about the meaning and purposes of American democracy and, in actuality, all of public life."

As a scholar, Ketcham specialized in constitutional and political theory, especially as it emerged and evolved during the era of the first U.S. presidents. Ketcham’s books in this vein included acclaimed biographies of Benjamin Franklin and James Madison (1966 and 1971, respectively), plus From Colony to Country: The Revolution in American Thought, 1750-1820 (1974), Presidents Above Party: The First American Presidency, 1789-1829 (1984), Framed for Posterity: The Enduring Philosophy of the Constitution (1993), and The Madisons at Montpelier; Reflections on the Founding Couple (2009). He edited for publication the papers of both Madison and Franklin. He was also the author of Individualism in Public Life: A Modern Dilemma (1987), The Idea of Democracy in the Modern Era (2004), and, just two years ago, Public-Spirited Citizenship: Leadership and Good Government in the United States (2015).

Recognition of Ketcham's influence on generations of Syracuse University students took many forms — including, in 1987, his selection as national professor of the year by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. He received from Syracuse both an honorary degree (1999) and the George Arents Medal (2003), given to SU alumni to recognize career achievements. Ketcham was an inaugural recipient of the Chancellor’s Citation for Outstanding Academic Achievement (1979).

In 1991, the Ralph Ketcham Endowed Fellowship Fund was established in Ketcham's honor in support of doctoral students in the history and political science departments. Once established, Ketcham wholeheartedly supported the fund, which has helped numerous students earn their PhD from the Maxwell School. Donations may be made online, at www.maxwell.syr.edu/ketcham-fund. Contributions may also be sent by mail to: The Ralph Ketcham Endowed Fellowship Fund, Maxwell School, Syracuse University, 200 Eggers Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244-1010. Checks may be made payable to Syracuse University with a note directing the gift to the Ketcham Fund.

"More than an accomplished scholar, Ralph was an engaging, warm, empathetic man," Van Slyke added. “It is not surprising that he had a truly global impact and following. Maxwell alumni from across generations and around the world — from Tokyo to Washington, D.C. — eagerly describe, with emotion, their involvement with Ralph. His more than 60 years of service to the Maxwell School has had a profound impact on all of us — thousands of alumni around the world, hundreds of colleagues, and anyone else lucky enough to know him."

04/28/17

Source: Syracuse University
Updated, 10/3/17

The Montpelier Estate and Museum

Link: https://www.montpelier.org/visit

Source: The Montpelier Estate and Museum

The Montpelier Estate and Museum

Link: https://www.montpelier.org/visit

Source: The Montpelier Estate and Museum

The Papers of James Madison, Retirement Series (there are actually at least 16 volumes written) - the write-up is just the one for the fourth volume

by James Madison

Synopsis:

Edited by J.C.A. Stagg, Jeanne Kerr Cross, Jewel L. Spangler, Ellen J. Barber, Martha J. King, Anne Mandeville Colony, and Susan Holbrook Perdue

This fourth volume covers events in James Madison's first administration between 5 November 1811 and 9 July 1812, corresponding almost exactly with the duration of the first session of the Twelfth Congress. Madison's two most important presidential decisions buttress this volume: his advocacy of preparedness in November 1811 and his request in June 1812 that Congress consider his case for war against Great Britain.

The documents from the intervening months chart the difficulties of the path to war. On the diplomatic front, Madison worked to clarify French policy toward neutrals. On the domestic front, divided opinions over war are revealed in addresses from citizens an state legislatures. Madison planned offensive operations against Canada, imposed an embargo on shipping, and endured threats to his renomination for a second term. Finally, Madison delivered his "war message" to Congress in June 1812, accusing Great Britain of an accumulation of grievances that stretch back to 1803.

This volume also includes a supplement of forty-five items of newly discovered material from March 1809 to October 1811.

The Fourth President: A Life of James Madison

by Irving Brant (no photo)

Synopsis:

Irving Brant’s six-volume, James Madison (published 1941-1961). Over twenty years publishing, including first edition volumes! James Madison is a distinguished work by an eminent historian, that is highly readable and with impeccable scholarship. This remains the definitive and classic portrait of Madison, the Father of our Constitution.

Volume I: James Madison The Virginia Revolutionist (1941) first edition not stated. Covers Madison’s life from 1751-1780.

Volume II: James Madison The Nationalist, 1780-1787 (1948) stated first edition. Madison’s career up until the Constitutional Convention.

Volume III: James Madison Father of the Constitution, 1787-1800 (1950) stated first edition. This volume has always been particularly difficult to obtain in first edition. A key to compiling a true first edition set.

Volume IV: James Madison Secretary of State, 1800-1809 (1953) stated first edition. Madison’s work as Thomas Jefferson’s chief diplomat.

Volume V: James Madison The President, 1809-1812 (1956) first edition not stated. The story of Madison’s first term in the presidency. This volume never had a statement of printing.

Volume VI: James Madison Commander in Chief, 1812-1836 (1961) stated first edition. The story of “Mr. Madison’s War,” and his life as an elder statesman.

This magnificent set is the product of over twenty years writing and publishing by Brant and The Bobbs-Merrill Company. Since the books were issued as they were written, full sets of first editions in dust jackets are exceedingly scarce.

The Cutts Family Papers:

Link: https://www.worldcat.org/title/cutts-...

Link: https://founders.archives.gov/documen...

Link:
https://digitaldoorway.montpelier.org...

Link:
https://dcghosts.com/cutts-madison-ho...

Sources: National Archives, World Cat, Digital Doorway Montpelier

The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretive History of the Continental Congress

by Jack N. Rakove

Synopsis:

Originally published in 1982.

Despite a necessary preoccupation with the Revolutionary struggle, America's Continental Congress succeeded in establishing itself as a governing body with national—and international—authority.

How the Congress acquired and maintained this power and how the delegates sought to resolve the complex theoretical problems that arose in forming a federal government are the issues confronted in Jack N. Rakove's searching reappraisal of Revolution-era politics.

Avoiding the tendency to interpret the decisions of the Congress in terms of competing factions or conflicting ideologies, Rakove opts for a more pragmatic view.

He reconstructs the political climate of the Revolutionary period, mapping out both the immediate problems confronting the Congress and the available alternatives as perceived by the delegates.

He recreates a landscape littered with unfamiliar issues, intractable problems, unattractive choices, and partial solutions, all of which influenced congressional decisions on matters as prosaic as military logistics or as abstract as the definition of federalism.

The Process of Government under Jefferson

by Noble E. Cunningham Jr. (no image)

Synopsis:

Based on an exploration of the total mass of executive and legislative records for the years 1801-1809--something no other scholar has attempted--this thoroughly documented account describes the machinery and operation of the presidential office, the Cabinet, the departments, and other offices and commissions in the executive branch. It also explains the organization and processes of the national legislature. Cunningham has cleared away many errors and misconceptions, among them the claim that Jefferson was not interested in the normal process of day-to-day administration. In fact, Jefferson emerges as one of the most effective administrators ever to occupy the Presidency. This is an important and path-breaking study in administrative and legislative history. --Julian P. Boyd, Princeton University

Originally published in 1978.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Mr. Madison's War: Politics, Diplomacy and Warfare in the Early American Republic

by J.C.A. Stagg (no photo)

Synopsis:

This comprehensive study examines the War of 1812 in the context of the history of the American republic between 1783 and 1830.

The author locates the origins of the war not so mush in the issues traditionally emphasized by historians -- such as the Anglo-American debate on maritime rights -- but rather in James Madison's thinking about the political economy of the British Empire and in his reaction to growing factionalism within the Republican party.

Jefferson: The President, Second Term, 1805 -1809

by Dumas Malone

Synopsis:

Ralph Ketchum wrote: "Finally the completion of Dumas Malone's splendid biography of Jefferson provides exactly the counterpoint needed for any study of the other half of one of the longest, most fruitful, and most like-minded collaborations in American history. Though access to these works would have improved in detail my Madison biography, none requires major revisions in fact or interpretation.