James Madison

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Aram Bakshian Jr, Hard-Headed Idealist; The man who drafted the Bill of Rights later helped Thomas Jefferson conduct a back-channel propaganda war. Wall Street Jornal, Oct 13, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204524604576609213120424724.html
(book review on Richard Brookhiser, James Madison, Basic Books, 2011)

Note:
(a) hard-headed (adj):
"concerned with or involving practical considerations : sober, realistic <some hardheaded advice> <a hardheaded observer of winds and tides>
(b) For First Magistrate, see magistrate (n; Latin magister master):
"A public civil officer, invested with the executive government of some branch of it. In this sense, a king is the highest or first magistrate, as is the President of the United States. But the word is more particularly applied to subordinate officers, as governors, intendants, prefects, mayors, justices of the peace, and the like. * * *"
Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary.
http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/MAGISTRATE?cx=partner-pub-0939450753529744%3Av0qd01-tdlq&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&q=MAGISTRATE&sa=Search#906

(c) James Madison
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Madison
(1751-1836; presidency: 1809-1817; section 2 Education)

He owned slaves, even while a president.
(d) The review calls Mr Madison "undersized."

He is the shortest US president, at "5 ft 4 in" or 163cm.
Heights of Presidents of the United States and presidential candidates
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heights_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States_and_presidential_candidates
(e) Federalist Papers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalist_Papers
(a series of 85 articles or essays promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution; published in 1987 and 1988; authors were Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay)
(f) James Monroe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Monroe
(1858-1831; presidency 1817-1825)
(g) Samuel Johnson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnson
(1709-1784; an English author)

For the quotation in this review, "your leveler wish to level down as far as themselves. They would all have some people under them," see
William Safire, Safire's Politial Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 1993, at 387-388.
http://books.google.com/books?id=c4UoX6-Sv1AC&pg=PA388&lpg=PA388&dq=%22your+levelers+wish+to+level+down%22&source=bl&ots=V1xm5qqxHl&sig=EWh914jf_17eIw2WoOVIeEzGnJE&hl=en&ei=PsqZToSEOqjs0gGc44nPBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CD4Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=%22your%20levelers%20wish%20to%20level%20down%22&f=false
(level playing field: "Levelers, however, have their critics. 'Sir, your levelers wish to level DOWN as far as themselves,' said Samuel Johnson in 1763, 'but they cannot bear leveling UP to themselves.'")

(h) abide (vt):
"2a : to endure without yielding : WITHSTAND
b : to bear patiently : TOLERATE <cannot abide such bigots>
3: to accept without objection <will abide your decision>"

Both definitions are from www.m-w.com.

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