In this book, renowned constitutional historian and AEI resident scholar Robert A. Goldwin tells the story of how and why Madison went from skeptic to advocate of a bill of rights, and how he single-handedly maneuvered his amendments through a reluctant Congress. Goldwin reveals how James Madison thought through, and then implemented, a design to put the Constitution on the firmest possible foundation, a foundation of popular support so solid that the Constitution of the United states has lasted incomparably longer than any other in the world.

From Parchment to Power will appeal to policy makers, historians, and constitution specialists as well as general readers interested in history and politics.

Robert A. Goldwin is a resident scholar of constitutional studies at AEI. He has served in the White House as special consultant to the president and, concurrently, as adviser to the secretary of defense. He has taught political science at the University of Chicago and at Kenyon College and was dean of St. John's College in Annapolis. He is the editor of more than a score of books on American politics, senior editor of the AEI series A Decade of Study of the Constitution, and author of numerous articles, many of which appear in Why Blacks, Women, and Jews Are Not Mentioned in the Constitution (AEI Press, 1990).