US statesman and fourth president (180917), born in Port Conway, Virginia, USA. He studied at the College of New Jersey (later Princeton), after which he returned to Virginia and in 1774 assumed the first of several positions in state government. In 1780 he began three years as a state delegate to the Congress under the Articles of Confederation, where he advocated a stronger national government. As a member of the Virginia House of Delegates (17846), he secured passage of Thomas Jefferson's landmark religious freedom bill. A primary mover behind the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he imprinted many of his ideas on the final document, becoming known as the father of the Constitution. He stressed the need for a strong central government and skillfully managed many of the necessary compromises. Although not the official secretary, he kept the most complete record of the convention, and he would be instrumental in adding the Bill of Rights. For these contributions, history has dubbed him father of the Constitution.
Although he joined with Federalists Alexander Hamilton and John Jay in contributing to the Federalist papers, he later moved to the more liberal Jeffersonian Republican side. He served in the US House of Representatives (178997) and then as President Jefferson's secretary of state (18019). Elected president (180917), he was unable to resist the forces, both domestic and foreign, that led to the War of 1812, which produced the burning of Washington and no real victory. Nonetheless, he left office in 1817 enjoying considerable popularity. Living on his estate at Montpelier in Virginia, he was Jefferson's successor as rector of the University of Virginia (182636). He opposed such doctrines as nullification and peaceful secession that would eventually lead to the Civil War.
| James Madison | |
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| 4th President of the United States | |
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In office March 4, 1809 – March 4, 1817 |
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| Vice President(s) |
George Clinton (1809-1812), None (1812-1813), Elbridge Gerry (1813-1814) None (1814-1817) |
| Preceded by | Thomas Jefferson |
| Succeeded by | James Monroe |
| Born |
March 16, 1751 Port Conway, Virginia |
| Died |
June 28, 1836 Montpelier, Virginia |
| Political party | Republican/Democratic-Republican |
| Spouse | Dolley Todd Madison |
| Signature | |
James Madison (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836) was the fourth President of the United States (1809–1817). In 1788 Madison and others wrote interpretive essays on the Constitution known as The Federalist Papers, which remain the most influential interpretation of its meaning. Breaking with Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, Madison and Thomas Jefferson created the first Republican (later the Democratic Republican) party in opposition to key policies of the Federalists, especially the national bank and Jay's Treaty. During and after the war Madison reversed many of his positions and by 1815, he supported a national bank, a strong military, and a moderate tariff structure.
Early life
Madison was born in Port Conway, Virginia on March 16, 1751 (March 5 according to the Old Style or Julian calendar). (March 27, 1723 – February 27, 1801) and Eleanor Rose "Nellie" Conway (January 9, 1731 – February 11, 1829), were slave owners and the prosperous owners of a tobacco plantation in Orange County, Virginia, where Madison spent most of his childhood years. Madison's plantation life was made possible by his paternal great-great-grandfather, James Madison, who utilized Virginia's headright system to import many indentured servants, thereby allowing him to accumulate a large tract of land.
Madison attended in 1769-71 the College of New Jersey (later to become Princeton University), finishing its four-year course in two years;
Political career
Madison served in the state legislature (1776-79) and became known as a protégé of Thomas Jefferson. At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, Madison's draft of the Virginia Plan, and his revolutionary three-branch federal system became the basis for the American Constitution of today. Madison envisioned a strong federal government that would be the umpire that could overrule the mistaken actions of the states;
Author of Bill of Rights
Patrick Henry persuaded the Virginia legislature not to elect Madison as one of their first Senators; but Madison was directly elected to the new United States House of Representatives and immediately became an important leader from the First Congress through the Fourth Congress (1789–1797).
Though Madison had believed that "that a specific bill of rights remained unnecessary because the Constitution itself was a bill of rights" , the anti-Federalists demanded a bill of rights in exchange for their support for ratification.
Opposition to Hamilton
The chief characteristic of Madison's time in Congress was his work to limit the power of the federal government. Madison (in collaboration with Jefferson, who was in private life), believed that Britain was weak and America strong, and that a trade war with Britain, although it threatened retaliation by Britain, probably would succeed, and would allow Americans to assert their independence fully. Madison tried and failed to defeat the treaty, and it became a central issue of the emerging First Party System. Madison led the unsuccessful attempt to block Hamilton's proposed Bank of the United States, arguing the new Constitution did not explicitly allow the federal government to form a bank.
Most historians argue that Madison changed radically from a nationally-oriented ally of Hamilton in 1787-88, to a states-rights oriented opponent of a strong national government by 1795. Madison usually lost and Hamilton usually achieved passage of his legislation, including the National Bank, funding of state and national debts, and support of the Jay Treaty. (Madison did block the proposal for high tariffs.) Madison's politics remained closely aligned with Jefferson's until the experience of a weak national government during the War of 1812 led Madison to appreciate the need for a stronger central government.
Marriage: Dolley Madison
On September 14, 1794, Madison married Dolley Payne Todd, who cut as attractive and vivacious a figure as he did a sickly and antisocial one.
Secretary of State 1801–1809
James Madison| 5th United States Secretary of State | |
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| In office | |
| 2 May 1801 – 3 March 1809 | |
| Preceded by | John Marshall |
| Succeeded by | James Monroe |
| Political party | Republican/Democratic-Republican |
The main challenge Madison faced during the Jefferson Administration was navigating between the two great empires of Britain and France, which were almost constantly at war. Madison and
Jefferson decided on an embargo to punish Britain and France, which meant forbidding all Americans to trade with any foreign nation.
The party's Congressional Caucus chose presidential candidates, and Madison was chosen in the election of 1808, easily defeating Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. Madison carefully prepared public opinion for what everyone at the time called "Mr. Madison's War", but much less time and money was spent building up the army, navy, forts, and state militias. After he convinced Congress to declare war, Madison was re-elected President over DeWitt Clinton but by a smaller margin than in 1808 (see U.S. presidential election, 1812).
In the ensuing War of 1812, the British won numerous victories, including the capture of Detroit after the American general surrendered to a smaller British force without a fight, and occupation of Washington, D.C., forcing Madison to flee the city and watch as the White House was set on fire by British troops.
Although Madison had accepted the necessity of a Hamiltonian national bank, an effective taxation system based on tariffs, a standing professional army and a strong navy, he drew the line at internal improvements as advocated by his Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin. In his last act before leaving office, Madison vetoed on states-rights grounds a bill for "internal improvements", including roads, bridges, and canals:
Having considered the bill ...
Madison rejected the view of Congress that the General Welfare Clause justified the bill, stating:
Such a view of the Constitution would have the effect of giving to Congress a general power of legislation instead of the defined and limited one hitherto understood to belong to them, the terms "common defense and general welfare" embracing every object and act within the purview of a legislative trust.
Madison urged a variety of measures that he felt were "best executed under the national authority", including federal support for roads and canals that would "bind more closely together the various parts of our extended confederacy".
Administration and Cabinet
| OFFICE | NAME | TERM |
| President | James Madison | 1809–1817 |
| Vice President | George Clinton | 1809–1812 |
| Elbridge Gerry | 1813–1814 | |
| Secretary of State | Robert Smith | 1809–1811 |
| James Monroe | 1811–1814 | |
| James Monroe | 1815–1817 | |
| Secretary of the Treasury | Albert Gallatin | 1809–1814 |
| George W. Campbell | 1814 | |
| Alexander J. Dallas | 1814–1816 | |
| William H. Crawford | 1816–1817 | |
| Secretary of War | William Eustis | 1809–1812 |
| John Armstrong, Jr. | 1813 | |
| James Monroe | 1814–1815 | |
| William H. Crawford | 1815–1816 | |
| George Graham (ad interim) | 1816–1817 | |
| Attorney General | Caesar A. Rodney | 1809–1811 |
| William Pinkney | 1811–1814 | |
| Richard Rush | 1814–1817 | |
| Postmaster General | Gideon Granger | 1809–1814 |
| Return Meigs | 1814–1817 | |
| Secretary of the Navy | Paul Hamilton | 1809–1813 |
| William Jones | 1813–1814 | |
| Benjamin Crowninshield | 1815–1817 | |
Supreme Court appointments
Madison appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:
Gabriel Duvall – 1811 Joseph Story – 1812States admitted to the Union
Louisiana – April 30, 1812 Indiana – December 11, 1816Later life
After leaving office, Madison retired to Montpelier, his tobacco plantation in Virginia, which was not far from Jefferson's Monticello.
Upon the death of Thomas Jefferson in 1826, Madison became the Rector of the University of Virginia and served for the next 10 years until his own death.
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