POINT: Founding document isn’t perfect but should be preserved
By Jeffrey Sikkenga
March 16 was the birthday of a little man who made a huge impact on America. At 5-foot-4 and not much over 100 pounds, James Madison – our fourth president (1809-1817) – was the smallest of America’s founders. But he was a constitutional giant.
Madison didn’t write the Constitution single-handedly; it was the product of argument and compromise among those who attended the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. But of all the Founders, Madison was most responsible not only for the Constitution itself but also for the Bill of Rights that followed. That’s why he is fairly called “The Father of the Constitution.”
These days, however, Madison’s progeny is under attack. Critics denounce the Constitution as anti-democratic, pro-slavery, outdated and in desperate need of amendments on many issues, such as the Electoral College.