James Madison

James Madison (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836) was the fourth (1809–1817) President of the United States. Known as the "Father of the Constitution," he played a leading role in the creation of the United States Constitution in 1787 and, with Alexander Hamilton, was the chief expounder of its meaning in the Federalist Papers (1788). Working closely with Thomas Jefferson he created the Democratic-Republican party in the mid-1790s and built a system of grass roots political activism that was victorious in the "Revolution of 1800." As Jefferson's Secretary of State he handled the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the nation's size, and tried to avoid war with Britain and France. As president he declared war on Britain, the War of 1812.

Early life

Madison was born in Port Conway, Virginia on March 16, 1751 (March 5 according to the Old Style Julian Calendar). He was the eldest of twelve children and only seven of them will reach adulthood According to the Library of Congress, ^*. His parents, Colonel James Madison, Sr. (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. He was raised Episcopalian. 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, like his forebears, owned slaves.

In 1769, Madison left the plantation to attend the College of New Jersey (later to become Princeton University), finishing its four-year course in two years but exhausting himself from overwork in the process. When he regained his health, he served in the state legislature (1776-79) and became known as a protégé of Thomas Jefferson. In this capacity, he became a prominent figure in Virginia state politics, helping to draft their declaration of religious freedom and persuading Virginia to give their northwestern territories (consisting of most of modern-day Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois) to the Continental Congress.

As a delegate to the Continental Congress (1780-83), he was considered a legislative workhorse and a master of parliamentary detail. Back in the state legislature he welcomed peace, but soon became alarmed at the fragility of the Confederation. He was a strong advocate of a new constitution and played a leading role in drafting and negotiating the main points at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. To aid the push for quick ratification, he joined with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay to write The Federalist Papers. Back in Virginia in 1788, he led the fight for ratification of the constitution at the state's convention—oratorically dueling Patrick Henry and others who sought revisions to the constitution (such as a bill of rights) before its ratification. Madison is often referred to as the "Father of the Constitution" for his role in its drafting and ratification. However, Madison protested this designation as being "a credit to which I have no claim... Constitution was not, like the fabled Goddess of Wisdom, the offspring of a single brain. It ought to be regarded as the work of many heads and many hands."Lance Banning, James Madison: Federalist, note 1, ^*

Congressional years

When the Constitution was ratified, Madison was elected to the United States House of Representatives from his home state of Virginia and served from the First Congress through the Fourth Congress. With Jefferson he was the cofounder of the Democratic-Republican Party during his final term in the House. On June 8, 1789, he successfully offered a package of twelve proposed amendments to the Constitution.^* Based upon earlier work by George Mason, the final ten of these rights became what is collectively known as the Bill of Rights by December 15, 1791. An eleventh of the amendments was belatedly ratified more than two centuries later and is today the 27th Amendment.

The chief characteristic of Madison's time in Congress was his desire to limit the power of the federal government. During this time, the debate between Hamilton and Jefferson led to the formation of the first political parties in U.S. history. Members of the Federalist Party followed Hamilton and believed in a strong central government. Madison was instrumental in the creation of the Democratic-Republican Party, which opposed the Hamiltonians as crypto-monarchists who would undermine republican values. 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.

In 1794, Madison married Dolley Payne Todd, who cut as attractive and vivacious a figure as he did a sickly and antisocial one. It is Dolley who is largely credited with inventing the role of "First Lady" as political ally to the president.

In 1797, Madison left Congress; in 1798, he and Jefferson secretly wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions which insisted that states could block unconstitutional federal laws and became the basis of States rights arguments until 1861. Most biographers see a sea-change with Madison moving from strong nationalism in 1787-88 to a states' rights position that became extreme in the resolutions of 1798. Other scholars, notably Lance Banning, see more continuity, arguing Madison was never caught up in Hamilton's dream of a powerful nation.

Secretary of State 1801-1809

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. The first great triumph was the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, made possible when Napoleon realized he could not defend that vast territory, and it was to France's advantage that Britain did not seize it. He and President Jefferson reversed party policy to negotiate and win Congressional approval for the Purchase. Madison tried to maintain neutrality, but at the same time insisted on the legal rights of the U.S. under international law. Neither London nor Paris showed much respect, however. Madison and Jefferson decided on an embargo to punish Britain, which meant forbidding all Americans to trade with any foreign nation. The embargo failed as foreign policy and instead caused massive hardships in the northeastern seaboard, which depended on foreign trade. The Republican Congressional Caucus chose presidential candidates for the party, and Madison was chosen in the election of 1808, easily defeating Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.

Presidency 1809-1817

Policies

British insults continued, especially the practice of using the Royal Navy to intercept unarmed American merchant ships and "impressing" (conscripting) all sailors who might be British subjects for service in the British navy. Madison's protests were ignored, so he helped stir up public opinion in the west and south for war. One argument was that an American invasion of Canada would be easy and would be a good bargaining chip. 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, or state militias. Historians in 2006 ranked Madison's failure to avoid war as the #6 worst presidential mistake ever made.^* After Congress declared 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 small force without a fight, and occupation of Washington, D.C., forcing Madison to flee the city and watch atop a hill in Virginia as the White House was set on fire by British troops. The British also armed American Indians in the West, most notably followers of Tecumseh. Finally a standoff was reached on the Canadian border. The Americans built warships on the Great Lakes faster than the British and gained the upper hand. At sea, the British blockaded the entire coastline, cutting off both foreign trade and domestic trade between ports.

After the defeat of Napoleon, both the British and Americans were exhausted, the causes of the war had been forgotten, and it was time for peace. New England Federalists, however, set up a secret defeatist Hartford Convention and threatened secession. In 1814, the Treaty of Ghent ended the war. The treaty nullified any territorial gains on either side, returning the countries to status quo ante bellum. The Battle of New Orleans, in which Andrew Jackson defeated the British regulars, was fought 15 days after the treaty was signed but before it was finalized. With peace finally established, America was swept by a sense of euphoria and national achievement in finally securing full independence from Britain. The Federalists fell apart and eventually disappeared from politics, as an Era of Good Feeling emerged with a much lower level of political fear and vituperation.

In his last act before leaving office, Madison vetoed a bill for "internal improvements," including roads, bridges, and canals:

"Having considered the bill...I am constrained by the insuperable difficulty I feel in reconciling this bill with the Constitution of the United States...The legislative powers vested in Congress are specified...in the...Constitution, and it does not appear that the power proposed to be exercised by the bill is among the enumerated powers..." ^*

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 would support internal improvement schemes only through constitutional amendment; but he 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 – 1812

States admitted to the Union

Louisiana – April 30, 1812
Indiana – December 11, 1816

Later life

After leaving office, Madison retired to Montpelier, his tobacco plantation in Virginia, which was not far from Jefferson's Monticello. He engaged in extensive correspondence on political affairs and served on the Board of Visitors of the University of Virginia for 17 years. 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. This occurred on June 28, 1836 from rheumatism and heart failure. He left no children and was the last founding father to die. His detailed notes on the Constitutional Convention were published a few years after his death.

Madison's portrait was on the U.S. bills|$5000 bill" target="_blank" >^*. There were about twenty different varieties of $5000 bills issued between 1861 and 1946, and all but three had James Madison. Madison also appears on the $200 Series EE Savings Bond.

Trivia

At 5 feet, 4 inches in height (163 cm) and 100 pounds (45 kg), Madison was the nation's shortest president and was frequently ill. He was too frail for military service during the Revolution.
Madison was a second cousin of the 12th U.S. President, Zachary Taylor.
Nephew James M. Rose was killed at the Battle of the Alamo. ^*
Great-nephew, James Edwin Slaugther, was a Confederate General. ^*
Both of Madison's vice presidents, George Clinton, and Elbridge Gerry died in office.
Madison took the most comprehensive notes at the Constitutional Convention, which were not published until after his death.
In 1812, President Madison proposed a federal bill which economically aided the Bible Society of Philadelphia in its goal of the mass distribution of the Bible. “ An Act for the relief of the Bible Society of Philadelphia” Approved February 2, 1813 by Congress. http://www.eadshome.com/JamesMadison.htm
Madison is currently the only sitting president to have taken fire from enemy combatants during war.
Madison was the first US President who wasn't the vice president to the previous president.
The title bird in Dick King-Smith's child's novel Harry's Mad is named after James Madison.
In 1840, what is now known as the city of Orange, Texas was once named Madison in honor of this president. The city was renamed Orange in 1858 because of the frequent post office confusion with another Texas town called Madisonville. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/OO/heo1.html
His last words were, "I always talk better lying down." http://www.diplom.org/manus/Presidents/faq/last.html

References

Primary sources

James Madison, James Madison: Writings 1772-1836. (Library of America, 1999), over 900 pages of letters, speeches and reports. ISBN 1883011663
William T. Hutchinson et al., eds., The Papers of James Madison (1962-), the definitive multivolume edition, 29 volumes have been published, with 16+ more volumes planned.
Gaillard Hunt, ed., The Writings of James Madison (9 vols 1900- 1910).
James M. Smith, ed. The Republic of Letters: The Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, 1776-1826. (3 vols. 1995).
Jacob E. Cooke, ed. The Federalist. (1961)
James Madison. Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787. ^*

Secondary sources

Biographies

Irving Brant, James Madison (6 vols., 1941-1961)
Ralph Ketcham, James Madison: A Biography (1971)
Jack Rakove, James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic (2nd Edition 2001).
Garry Wills, James Madison (2002)

Analytic studies

Banning, Lance. The Sacred Fire of Liberty: James Madison and the Creation of the Federal Republic, 1780-1792 (1995) online at ACLS History e-Book
Channing, Edward. The Jeffersonian System: 1801-1811 (1906)
Elkins, Stanley M. and Eric McKitrick. The Age of Federalism (1995)
McCoy, Drew R. The Elusive Republic: Political Economy in Jeffersonian America (1980)
McCoy, Drew R. The Last of the Fathers: James Madison and the Republican Legacy (1989).
Marshall Smelser. The Democratic Republic 1801-1815 (1968).
Muñoz, Vincent Phillip. "James Madison's Principle of Religious Liberty" in "American Political Science Review" (2003) 97(1):17-32 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=512922
Rutland, Robert A. The Presidency of James Madison (1990)
Rutland, Robert A., ed. James Madison and the American Nation, 1751-1836: An Encyclopedia. (1994)
Sheehan, Colleen. "Madison V. Hamilton: The Battle Over Republicanism And The Role Of Public Opinion" American Political Science Review 2004 98(3): 405-424.
Stagg, John C. A. Mr. Madison's War: Politics, Diplomacy, and Warfare in the Early American republic, 1783-1830. (1983).
- Stagg, J. C. A. "James Madison and the 'Malcontents': The Political Origins of the War of 1812," William and Mary Quarterly (Oct., 1976)
- J.C.A. Stagg, "James Madison and the Coercion of Great Britain: Canada, the West Indies, and the War of 1812," in The William and Mary Quarterly(Jan., 1981)

External links

James Madison Biography and Fact File
Quotations by James Madison at Liberty-Tree.ca
The James Madison Papers, 1723-1836 from the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress, approximately 12,000 items captured in some 72,000 digital images.
The Papers of James Madison from the Avalon Project
Madison's last will and testament, 1835
A history of the Madison family since the 17th century
Official White House page for James Madison
Madison Archives
James Madison Museum

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