JAMES MADISON

THE 4TH PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(1809-1817)

MADISON, James (1751–1836), fourth president of the U.S. (1809–17). Known as the father of the Constitution because of his central role in the Constitutional Convention, he was one of the founders of the Jeffersonian Republican party in the 1790s, and he served as secretary of state (1801–9) under Thomas Jefferson. Madison was born in Westmoreland Co., Va., on March 16, 1751, the son of a wealthy planter. He graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1771 and in 1776 was elected to the Virginia Convention, called to consider the relationship of the colonies to Great Britain, at which he strongly urged independence. From 1777 to 1780 he was a member of the Governor’s Council. In 1780 he was elected to a 3-year term in the Continental Congress. Although he was the youngest member, Madison quickly rose to a position of leadership, working unsuccessfully, along with Alexander Hamilton and others, to strengthen the central government by giving Congress power to tax and to regulate trade. Madison entered the Virginia legislature in 1783. An advocate of complete separation of church and state, he succeeded in persuading the legislature to adopt the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom drafted by Thomas Jefferson.   The Constitutional Convention. Working with other proponents of a strong central government, Madison was largely instrumental in persuading Congress to summon a convention to revise the Articles of Confederation, or federal constitution. At the convention, which met in Philadelphia in May 1787, Madison played a leading role. He drafted the Virginia Plan (introduced by Edmund Randolph) that became the basis for the structure of the new government. In accordance with his views, the Constitution provided for a separation of powers with a system of checks and balances. He was responsible for the creation of a strong executive with a veto and a judiciary with power to override state laws. His journal of the proceedings (pub. 1840) constitutes the sole record of the debates. With Alexander Hamilton and John Jay he drafted essays in defense of the Constitution to rebut those fearful of centralized power. His argument that liberty would be more secure in a large unit than in small ones because no group would be able to form an absolute majority has been confirmed by subsequent experience. In the Virginia Constitutional Convention Madison led the successful fight for ratification against the opposition of Patrick Henry.   The Washington, Adams, and Jefferson Administrations. Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1789, Madison sponsored the first ten amendments to the Constitution (known as the Bill of Rights) to fulfill a pledge made during the fight over ratification, when it was charged that the Constitution failed to protect individual rights. In 1791 he broke with Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists, opposing the fiscal policy of the Washington administration. He joined Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe in founding the Republican party to counteract the centralizing and aristocratic tendencies of the Federalists then in power. In 1794 he married Dolley Payne Todd (1768–1849), a widow, who is especially remembered for her charm as a hostess during his presidency. Madison retired from Congress in 1797. In the following year he drafted the Virginia Resolutions, condemning as unconstitutional the Alien and Sedition Acts, by which the Federalists had sought to cripple their opponents. These resolves, echoing those drafted by Jefferson and adopted by the Kentucky legislature, asserted the right of the states to nullify federal laws. In 1799 and 1800 Madison served in the Virginia legislature. As secretary of state under Thomas Jefferson, he endeavored without success to secure European recognition of principles of neutral rights advanced by the U.S. during the Napoleonic Wars. He also failed to persuade the British to abandon their interference with U.S. trade and to cease impressment of American sailors on the high seas.   Madison as President. Elected president in 1809 with 122 electoral votes to 47 for the Federalist candidate Charles Pinckney, Madison approved the repeal of the embargo by which Jefferson had tried to avoid war through a ban on trade with the warring European powers. Tensions between the U.S. and Britain continued, however, and Madison’s conduct of foreign policy was increasingly criticized both by the Federalists and by members of his own party. In 1812 Madison asked Congress for a declaration of war against Great Britain. On the day that war was declared (June 18, 1812), the British repealed their trade restrictions (Orders in Council). Because they would not abandon impressment, however, Madison refused to conclude a truce pending formal peace negotiations. The War of 1812 was badly managed by Secretary of War John Armstrong (1758–1843), who failed to take seriously the threat of a British invasion. When a British invasion force captured Washington in 1814, Armstrong was replaced by James Monroe. Peace negotiations at Ghent in Belgium resulted (December 1814) in a treaty that settled none of the outstanding issues. Andrew Jackson’s victory over the British at New Orleans, although it occurred after the signing of the peace, was widely regarded as a vindication of American arms in a war many considered a second American revolution. In domestic affairs Madison yielded to the rising tide of nationalist sentiment. Before leaving office he signed a bill for a protective tariff and agreed to the chartering of a national bank (the Second Bank of the United States), a measure he had vehemently opposed in 1791. In foreign affairs his most important action after the war was to negotiate an agreement (the Rush-Bagot Agreement) for permanent demilitarization of the frontier between the U.S. and Canada. The Rush-Bagot Agreement was ratified after Madison left office.   Retirement. Retiring to his estate, Montpelier in Orange Co., Va., Madison avoided further participation in party politics but did express his support for President Andrew Jackson when South Carolina revived the controversy over nullification of federal laws in 1832. He helped Jefferson found the University of Virginia and became its rector in 1826. He was also a member of the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829. Madison died at Montpelier on June 28, 1836.