Fergus M Bordewich has been an independent historian and writer since the early 1970s As a journalist he traveled extensively in Asia the Middle East Europe and Africa writing on a variety of topics He also served for brief periods as an editor and writer for the Tehran Journal in Iran in 19721973 a press officer for the United Nations in 19801982 and an advisor to the New China News Agency in Beijing in 19821983 In this episode he discusses his book The First Congress How James Madison George Washington and a Group of Extraordinary Men Invented the Government He spoke at a Ford Evening Book Talk at the Washington Library on June 9 2016