Historian Jeff Broadwater argues that no single figure can tell us more about the origins of the American republic than our fourth president, James Madison, a bookish political theorist who played key roles in the creation of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, but whose thinking became muddled on the issue of race.

Broadwater is professor of history at Barton College and author of James Madison: A Son of Virginia and a Founder of the Nation.

Co-presented with the Truman Library Institute; co-sponsored by KCUR’s Up to Date.