This book is primarily devoted to the author's discussion with James Madison of the Federal Convention in 1787. The author first met James Madison in 2009 at Montpelier during a family visit to Madison's plantation just north of Charlottesville, Virginia. Since that meeting, they have held numerous political discussions. The most recent discussion took place in a Virginia coffee house where they discussed the Federal Convention of 1787 and the creation of the Constitution.The first part of the discussion is devoted to three major issues leading up to the convention. This includes (1) a conference hosted by George Washington at Mount Vernon in 1785 to settle the navigational boundaries between Maryland; (2) a conference at Annapolis, Md. in September 1786 to address the common issues faced by the various states; and (3) Shay's Rebellion which resulted in the various states, with the exception of Rhode Island, sending delegates to the Federal Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to strengthen the Articles of Confederation. However, Madison and the Virginian had other ideas and hijacked the convention to create a strong national government.The discussion and debates at the Convention is divided into five phases. The first phase was a discussion of the Virginia Plan presented to the convention by Edmund Randolph of Virginia which was intended to form a new government rather than simply amend the Articles of Confederation. The second phase of the convention began on June 15 when William Paterson (NJ) presented the New Jersey Plan to the convention. This plan retained the equality of the states and was more in line with the Articles of Confederation. For almost a month the delegates debated the issue of equality versus representation by population. To resolve the debate a committee was created to report on the issue dividing the two groups. On July 5 the committee recommended a compromise in which a lower house, the House of Representatives, would be represented by population while in the upper house, the Senate, the states would have equal votes. The third phase was a discussion of such ideas as the Chief Executive, his election, and his power; the judiciary and its election and powers; the powers of congress, and how the constitution would be ratified. On 26 July, 1787 the convention appointed a Committee of Detail to arrange and systematize what the convention had accomplished to date. The Committee of Detail reported on 6 August, 1787 the first draft of the Constitution. The fourth phase of the National Convention took place between 7 August and 17 September as the delegates debated and argued over articles and clauses of the first draft of the Constitution. They compromised on slavery and commercial regulation but still argued about the Chief Executive and his election and powers. On 10 September the convention appointed a Committee of Style to draft a final version of the Constitution which was written not by James Madison but by Gouverneur Morris. On 16 September, the Delegates approved the Constitution and on 17 September each state delegate signed the Constitution beginning with George Washington who had served as Chairman of the National Convention.A fifth phase was a battle for Constitution ratification which took place over the next ten months as individual groups for and against the Constitution stated their case. The two major groups were the Federalist and the Anti-Federalist. The Federalist were championed by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay while the Anti-Federalist were championed by Melancton Smith, Martin Luther, and Patrick Henry. The Federalist got the better of the battle with the agreement that they would incorporate a Bill of Rights into the Constitution.The Constitution was approved on September 13, 1788 by the Confederation Congress and the new government began operation on March 4, 1789.