Do you think partisan intrigue and accusations of foreign meddling are new things? We talk with Tyson Reeder, author of Serpent in Eden: Foreign Meddling and Partisan Politics in James Madison's America, about how threat of foreign influence propelled Madison's thoughts on forming a stronger union, and how Federalists and Republicans tried to secure their own advantage by accusing each other of foreign entanglements. What was the destructive symbiosis between the two political sides, and did Madison—or do we—see a way to overcome the chasm of distrust?
Do you think partisan intrigue and accusations of foreign meddling are new things? We talk with Tyson Reeder, author of Serpent in Eden: Foreign Meddling and Partisan Politics in James Madison's America, about how threat of foreign influence propelled Madison's thoughts on forming a stronger union, and how Federalists and Republicans tried to secure their own advantage by accusing each other of foreign entanglements. What was the destructive symbiosis between the two political sides, and did Madison—or do we—see a way to overcome the chasm of distrust?