At the end of America's Revolutionary War, the United States were not united. The Articles of Confederation, drafted in 1776, had provided the fledgling nation with a temporary government that sustained it through the war. But in the aftermath of America's successful struggle for independence from Great Britain, the weak central government these articles created proved entirely inadequate for directing a nation trying to find its political bearings. Triumvirate is the story of how three of America's greatest founding fathers -- Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay -- overcame differences in their individual political philosophies to arrive at a single vision of the future for our country. Writing under the pseudonym "Publius," they drafted the 85 articles published between 1787 and 1788 as The Federalist in support of the new Constitution being debated at the Constitutional Convention. These articles were instrumental in persuading wary states that had just thrown off the yoke of a tyrannical monarchy to agree to a strong central government with a chief executive, a judiciary, and a system of checks and balances. Distinguished historian Bruce Chadwick brings this volatile period of American history vividly to life with his detailed account of the important issues and political stakes that ultimately shaped the ratification of the Constitution of the United States, the supreme law of our land. - Jacket flap.