Lake of the Woods Democratic Club

The Constitution of the United States, which has guided the nation through good times and bad for nearly 250 years, will be the subject of a presentation by an authority on America’s founding document at the club’s November 13 meeting.

Patrick Campbell, director of the Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution at Montpelier, will be the guest of the club at the 1 p.m. meeting in Classroom II of the Lake of the Woods’ Community Center.

Campbell was a U.S. Marine infantry officer and judge advocate for 21 years before retiring to teach Advanced Placement Comparative and U.S. Government courses, coaching and administration in independent schools. In 2017, he joined the staff at Montpelier, the Orange County home of James Madison, the primary author of the Constitution.

As director of the Center for the Constitution, Campbell is responsible for coordinating seminars for educators, law enforcement officers and international groups about Madison’s legacy.

Campbell has a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Notre Dame, an LL.M. from the Judge Advocate General School, and Juris Doctor and Master of Education degrees from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

Campbell and his wife of over 30 years, Arlene, have two adult sons. Besides history, he spends his time fruit and vegetable gardening, recreational swimming, serving as a soccer referee and international travel.

The Montpelier Foundation established the Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution in 2002 with the purpose of providing seminars for educators on topics related to the U.S. Constitution. Among its other programs, the Center produces a podcast called “Consider the Constitution” hosted by Dr. Katie Crawford, which features interviews with constitutional scholars, policy and subject matter experts, heritage professionals, and legal practitioners.

The Robert H. Smith Center for the Constitution at Montpelier

“Consider the Constitution” on Spotify on Apple Podcasts

Denis Kaufman, a retired federal intelligence analyst, reviewed the history of U.S. immigration policy at the September 11 meeting of the LOW Democratic Club. Links to fact-filled slides used in his presentation and a video of his appearance before the Orange County Democratic Committee appear below.

Click here to view Kaufman’s MS PowerPoint slides

VIDEO Civil Liberties Crossroads: The ICE Factor

Read Kaufman’s newsletter, “The Conscience of a Whig”

The role of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be the topic of the program at the Sept. 11 meeting of the Lake of the Woods Democratic Club.

Denis Kaufman, a retired federal intelligence analyst, will speak at the meeting in Classroom 2 of the LOW Community Center. The program will begin at 1:30 p.m. after a meet-and-greet session that begins at 1 p.m.

The mission of I.C.E., according to the website of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is to “Protect America through criminal investigations and enforcing immigration laws to preserve national security and public safety.”

The agency had more than 20,000 law enforcement and support personnel as of mid-2025,  operating across the United States and in various countries worldwide. 

Kaufman, who moved to Orange County in 2021, enlisted in the U.S. Navy after high school in 1969. He retired as a senior chief petty officer in 1990.

In 1990 he joined the Defense Intelligence Agency as an intelligence analyst and served in various assignments from 1990 through 2017, including as the defense intelligence studies chair at the U.S. Army War College. He retired for the second time from the Defense Intelligence Agency’s National Center for Medical Intelligence in December 2017.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement