Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government.

He served as a politician much of his adult life. Like most of his contemporaries Madison changed his political views during his life. As president (1809–17) after the failure of diplomatic protests and a trade embargo against Great Britain he led the nation into the War of 1812.