Another Reason James Madison Was Great

James Madison was the author of the Federalist Papers and the Bill of Rights, the “Father of the Constitution”, a member of the House of Representatives, Secretary of State, and the fourth President of the United States. That’s quite a list of accomplishments which has rightly earned Madison his place in history. According to this link, he also had the best idea of any President ever. In fact, our school’s namesake

seriously considered proposing a national government-run brewery. He also wanted to establish a secretary of beer for the cabinet. True story. As a member of the House, Madison encouraged “the manufacture of beer in every State in the Union,” 

It’s been 194 years since Madison left office. Forty men have taken the oath of office since then. Yet not one of these men and their administration could follow through and honor Madison’s vision by appointing a Secretary of Beer to the Cabinet.  How is that even possible? Admittedly, guys like Lincoln, Roosevelt, and others had wars and other crisises to occupy them. There is just no way that one of these joker presidents couldn’t have found the time to have gotten this done though. The regret has to be killing guys like John Tyler and James Buchanan right now. Well not technically, because they’ve been dead for hundreds of years, but the point is our country is letting a great idea slip through its fingertips. We have got to make this happen. Call your congressman. Write a letter to the editor. Get drunk and incoherently explain to a stranger how the power dynamics of the cabinet will be impacted by the addition of a new member. Do whatever you can. This is just too important an issue to go unnoticed any longer.