关键词:
NONFICTION
摘要:
To read Karen E. Robbins's skillful biography of James McHenry is to follow the course of American independence and nation building from the perspective of an active participant in the key events of the Revolutionary era: service in the army, writing and ratifying the Constitution, the thorny internal politics of the George Washington and John Adams administrations, and the harrowing test of the War of 1812. Back in Maryland he fought hard for ratification, and when that had been achieved, he became his "state's Federalist leader," distributing patronage, corresponding with local and national Federalists, coordinating activities, authoring political tracts, drafting bills, and shepherding them through the political process (p. 122).