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Summary
Summary
An extraordinary American comes to life in this vivid, groundbreaking portrait of the early days of the republic - and the birth of modern politics When the roar of the Revolution had finally died down, a new generation of American politicians was summoned to the Potomac to assemble the nation's newly minted capital. Into that unsteady atmosphere, which would soon enough erupt into another conflict with Britain in 1812, Dolley Madison arrived, alongside her husband, James. Within a few years, she had mastered both the social and political intricacies of the city, and by her death in 1849 was the most celebrated person in Washington. Andyet, to most Americans, she's best known for saving a portrait from the burning White House, or as the namesake for a line of ice cream.Why did her contemporaries give so much adulation to a lady so little known today? In A Perfect Union , Catherine Allgor reveals that while Dolley's gender prevented her from openly playing politics, those very constraints of womanhood allowed her to construct an American democratic ruling style, and to achieve her husband's political goals. And the way that she did so - by emphasizing cooperation over coercion, building bridges instead of bunkers - has left us with not only an important story about our past but a model for a modern form of politics.Introducing a major new American historian, A Perfect Union is both an illuminating portrait of an unsung founder of our democracy, and a vivid account of a little-explored time in our history.
Author Notes
Catherine Allgor is an Assistant Professor of History at the University of California, Riverside.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this elegant biography, award-winning historian Allgor (Parlor Politics) makes the case that not only was Dolley Madison incredibly popular with the American people-"Everybody loves Mrs. Madison" Henry Clay once said-the wife of America's fourth president was also a "master politician." Dolley was a skilled hostess, and everyone in Washington coveted an invitation to her table. She knew the etiquette of polite society and used it to political advantage. She worked as a de facto campaign manager when her husband sought the presidency, inventing fictive kin and feigning family connections to potential allies. Even her interior decorating was politically savvy: though she favored French decor at home in Virginia, she chose American-made furniture for the White House. There's no anachronism here: Allgor doesn't turn Dolley into a proto-feminist, nor the marriage-which was respectful and deeply affectionate-into a bastion of egalitarianism. Yet when Allgor describes the Madisons as "political partner[s]," one can't help thinking of the Clintons. The erudition and charm of this biography are rivaled only by that of its subject, which makes it disappointing that the decades after Madison's presidency are dispatched in a skimpy two chapters and epilogue. 10-city author tour. (Apr. 10) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
No union is ever perfect. Yet it's not a stretch to consider Dolley Madison the perfect First Lady, "a bridge between presidential dignity and democratic accessibility." As Allgor (History/Univ. of California, Riverside) details, Dolley and James Madison certainly enjoyed an uncommonly good partnership, perhaps against the odds. He was 43 and she 25 when they married, he retiring, she fond of the social swirl; James--Allgor puts himself on a first-name basis with the founding couple--"resided most comfortably in the theoretical realm, happiest when composing or untangling complex political theories," while his wife was a master of practical diplomacy. She put her skills to work early on, when James became Thomas Jefferson's secretary of state; one of the more newsworthy aspects of this book is its revelation of Jefferson's misogyny and poor manners, which resulted in more than one diplomatic flap, especially when they were combined as in the wonderfully complicated "Merry affair," which almost caused new warfare between the fledgling United States and England. So skillful was Dolley at repairing some of the damage Jefferson did that she even managed to fly under his radar, even as he sternly condemned other women active in Washington politics. Dolley also forged a diplomacy of the dining-room table that brought together feuding Federalists and Republicans; "by welcoming all and making her house the place to see and be seen, Dolley also upped the social ante, making society even more necessary to politics in the capital city." So it was when she became First Lady, taking charge of making a White House worthy of the name, soon to be burned by the British in the War of 1812, in which she emerged as a national hero. Allgor also credits Dolley with skillful campaigning that saved her husband's bid for reelection in 1812. A welcome life of a woman who deserves greater representation in history books. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
During the administration of President James Madison, his wife was the most famous and loved individual in the country; upon her death in old age, having achieved the status of icon, she was accorded a state funeral in the nation's capital. When her husband served as secretary of state under Thomas Jefferson, and then especially while she occupied the White House during Madison's two presidential terms, Dolley put her beauty, charm, and intelligence to good use: as a practitioner of salon politics, she played a beneficial role as a bridge between the political and social arenas at a time when Washington City was still an unformed and unfinished capital carved from the wilderness and its social atmosphere was in its infancy. History professor Allgor's serious biography of a woman who was never one to fade into the background in any situation --this at a time when it was commonly believed that a woman should do just that--stresses the importance of Dolley's making the office of First Lady her own, setting a pattern for future strong and individualistic First Ladies, a list that came to include Eleanor Roosevelt, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Hillary Clinton. A sensitively perceived and historiographically important biography. --Brad Hooper Copyright 2006 Booklist
Library Journal Review
In the second major biography in little over a year of Dolley Madison, wife of the fourth U.S. president, Allgor (Univ. of California, Riverside; Parlor Politics) not only gives us Madison's life but also identifies her influence in creating a uniquely American political style. She emphasizes how Dolley consciously used the social sphere to influence politics and advance her husband's career. Under Dolley's hand, the Madisons' weekly socials, by requiring civility and minimizing conflict, encouraged interaction and dialog among those in government in an era of often violent political disagreement. As a result, contends Allgor, Dolley inadvertently helped forge a distinctly American brand of politics that fused ideals of disinterested public service and elite leadership with the notion of broader participation in government. Richard C?t?'s recent Strength and Honor: The Life of Dolley Madison is equally strong but somewhat more straightforward. Recommended for history and biography collections in academic and public libraries, though smaller public libraries that already have C?t?'s book can get by without Allgor's. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 12/05.]-Linda V. Carlisle, Southern Illinois Univ., Edwardsville (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| A Note on Names | p. xi |
| Prologue | p. 1 |
| 1 Mrs. Madison Goes to Washington | p. 11 |
| 2 Meeting Madison | p. 27 |
| 3 Lady About Town | p. 41 |
| 4 Social Work | p. 63 |
| 5 The Merry Affair | p. 78 |
| 6 Portrait of a Lady | p. 102 |
| 7 Sex, Lies, and the Election of 1808 | p. 121 |
| 8 Lady Presidentess | p. 139 |
| 9 Presiding Genius | p. 155 |
| 10 "The Great Centre of Attraction" | p. 173 |
| 11 Family Matters | p. 202 |
| 12 The Republican Queen | p. 232 |
| 13 Affairs to Remember | p. 256 |
| 14 "Mr. Madison's War" | p. 280 |
| 15 Potomac Phoenix | p. 305 |
| 16 To Home and History | p. 339 |
| 17 Legacies | p. 373 |
| Epilogue | p. 400 |
| Notes | p. 409 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 471 |
| Illustration Credits | p. 479 |
| Index | p. 481 |