The Father of Our Country's Politics

Yes, George Washington was the father of our country, but who fathered its politics? Certainly not Washington, who detested the very notion of partisanship and did his best to govern as First Magistrate, above the interests of "faction." His successor, the honest but hyper-irascible John Adams, was temperamentally incapable of cold political calculation, one reason that he was so vulnerable to attack during his single presidential term. Thomas Jefferson, who cultivated an above-the-fray, nonpolitical persona, had a keen private appreciation of political maneuvering but preferred to leave the heavy lifting, and occasional dirty work, to loyal subordinates. Which brings us to the most trusted and able of those subordinates, Jefferson's fellow Virginian James Madison.