Praise for Founding Rivals "Long before they fought the War of 1812 and planted the seeds of Manifest Destiny, James Madison and James Monroe fought each other over a seat in the First Congress. Their epic campaign-revolving around the size and scope of government, its taxing power, and a nation awash in debt-is America in microcosm. (It's also frighteningly relevant ... Read moreto our twenty-first-century democracy.) It is a fascinating story, told here by a gifted young historian, as promising as his protagonists. Thoroughly researched and gracefully written, Founding Rivals is narrative history of the most readable kind." -Richard Norton Smith, author of Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation and founding director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum "Compelling narrative throughout... A lively, clear-cut study of the myriad hurdles and uncertainty that characterized the first attempts to form the U.S. government." -Kirkus Reviews "An engaging account of the Republic's contentious founding." -Publishers Weekly "Is there anyone in America who wouldn't want their next congressional election to feature a choice between James Madison and James Monroe? As Chris DeRose shows us in this fascinating new book, one lucky district, Virginia's 5th (which happens to be my own), got this lucky pick in 1789. Few single contests have ever been more important for the nation's future. Just like today, past elections were high-stakes affairs with enormous consequences. Unlike today, the big issues could once be argued on center stage between friends, in a spirit of unity and harmony." -Profess or Larr y J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and author of A More Perfect Constitution Show Less