How the Founding Fathers' Arguments Became the U.S. Constitution

What was it about their times that enable the Founding Fathers to accomplish all that they did?
They were men schooled in politics at a peculiar moment in history in which, on the one hand, in America in particular, democratic ideas were coming to the fore. But at the same time, they had all been schooled in more traditional politics that as public servants they didn't represent particular constituencies but rather the broad public interest. They were able to walk a line between being responsive to the people, which in the present day often leads to partisan excess, while at the same time living out these roles as disinterested public servants. It would be very hard to recreate that political climate today. To give one example, these folks met in secret. For three and a half months, they had these discussions in private. They were able to disagree openly and then come together the next day in a friendly fashion and try to work towards an agreement. Imagine what would happen today. It's unthinkable. It would be wrong for a group like that to meet in secret. But they'd come out, and there would be Fox News and CNN and MSNBC sticking the cameras in front of their faces and they'd be posturing. It wouldn't be a pretty sight.