Constitutionalism.....................

     Madison took care of his reputation in other ways (think of his convention notes), but his real monument is not them, or any other item or thing—not even originals of the Constitution or Bill of Rights, or first editions of The Federalist.  The English architect Sir Christopher Wren was buried in one of his creations, St Paul's Cathedral, where he has a famous epitaph:  if you seek his monument, look about you.  Madison's circumambient  monument is American constitutionalism—the laws of doing and not doing, and all the debate and revisions they have generated (debating and revising are among the laws;  some of the most important ongoing debates—over the power of the federal government, and of the courts; over free speech and freedom of religion—go back to Madison's lifetime).  Many other people helped build constitutionalism, including enemies of his, and he would be the last person to deny his collaborators.  But he played a major role.

-Richard Brookhiser,  James Madison