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U.S Presidents — James Madison

OVERVIEW Name: James Madison President: # 4 Term Number(s): 6, 7 Term Length: 8 Took Office: March 4, 1809 Left Office: March 4, 1817 Age when Elected: 57 Party: Democratic-Republican Also Known As: "Father of the Constitution" BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION Education: Princeton University Occupation: Lawyer Other Governmental Position: 5th United States Secretary of State, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 5th District, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 15th District. Military Service: None Religion: unknown Spouse(s): Dolley Todd Madison (September 15, 1794) Children: John Payne Todd (stepson) Birthdate: March 16, 1751 Birthplace: Port Conway, Virginia Deathdate: June 28, 1836 Deathplace: Montpelier, Virginia Age at Death: 85 Cause of Death: debility Place of Internment: Madison Family Cemetery in Montpelier, Virginia Signature FIRST ELECTION Election Year: 1808 Main Opponent: Charles Cotesworth Pinckney Voter Participation: N/A   Electoral Popular States Click for larger image Winner 122 (70.00%) 124,732 (64.70%) 12 Main Opponent 47 (26.86%) 62,431 (32.40%) 5 total 175 192,691 17 SECOND ELECTION Election Year: 1812 Main Opponent: DeWitt Clinton Voter Participation: N/A   Electoral Popular States Click for larger image Winner 128 (59.00%) 140,431 (50.40%) 11 Main Opponent 89 (41.01%) 132,781 (47.60%) 7 total 217 278,786 18 CABINET AND COURT APPOINTMENTS Vice President: George Clinton, vacant, Elbridge Gerry, vacant Secretary of State: Robert Smith (1809–1811), James Monroe (1811–1814, 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 (1809–1813), John Armstrong, Jr. (1813–1814), James Monroe (1814–1815), William H. Crawford (1815–1816) Secretary of the Navy: Paul Hamilton (1809–1813), William Jones (1813–1814), Benjamin W. Crowninshield (1814–1817) Attorney General: Caesar A. Rodney (1809–1811), William Pinkney (1811–1814), Richard Rush (1814–1817) Supreme Court Assignments: Gabriel Duvall (1811), Joseph Story (1812) PRESIDENT'S BIOGRAPHY At his inauguration, James Madison, a small, wizened man, appeared old and worn; Washington Irving described him as "but a withered little apple-John." But whatever his deficiencies in charm, Madison's wife Dolley compensated for them with her warmth and gaiety. She was the toast of Washington. Born in 1751, Madison was brought up in Orange County, Virginia, and attended Princeton (then called the College of New Jersey). A student of history and government, well-read in law, he participated in the framing of the Virginia Constitution in 1776, served in the Continental Congress, and was a leader in the Virginia Assembly. When delegates to the Constitutional Convention assembled at Philadelphia, the 36-year-old Madison took frequent and emphatic part in the debates. Madison made a major contribution to the ratification of the Constitution by writing, with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, the Federalist essays. In later years, when he was referred to as the "Father of the Constitution," Madison protested that the document was not "the off-spring of a single brain," but "the work of many heads and many hands." In Congress, Madison helped frame the Bill of Rights and enact the first revenue legislation. Out of his leadership in opposition to Hamilton's financial proposals, which he felt would unduly bestow wealth and power upon northern financiers, came the development of the Republican, or Jeffersonian, Party. As President Jefferson's Secretary of State, Madison protested to warring France and Britain that their seizure of American ships was contrary to international law. The protests, John Randolph acidly commented, had the effect of "a shilling pamphlet hurled against eight hundred ships of war." Despite the unpopular Embargo Act of 1807, which did not make the belligerent nations change their ways but did cause a depression in the United States, Madison was elected president in 1808. Before he took office, the Embargo Act was repealed. During the first year of Madison's Administration, the United States prohibited trade with both Britain and France. Then, in May 1810, Congress authorized trade with both, directing the president, if either would accept America's view of neutral rights, to forbid trade with the other nation. Napoleon pretended to comply. Late in 1810, Madison proclaimed non-intercourse with Great Britain. In Congress, a young group including Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, the "War Hawks," pressed the president for a more militant policy. The British impressment of American seamen and the seizure of cargoes impelled Madison to give in to the pressure. On June 1, 1812, he asked Congress to declare war. The young nation was not prepared to fight; its forces took a severe trouncing. The British entered Washington and set fire to the White House and the Capitol. But a few notable naval and military victories, climaxed by Gen. Andrew Jackson's triumph at New Orleans, convinced Americans that the War of 1812 had been gloriously successful. An upsurge of nationalism resulted. The New England Federalists who had opposed the war—and who had even talked secession—were so thoroughly repudiated that Federalism disappeared as a national party. In retirement at Montpelier, his estate in Orange County, Virginia, Madison spoke out against the disruptive states' rights influences that by the 1830s threatened to shatter the Federal Union. In a note opened after his death in 1836, he stated, "The advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions is that the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated." FIRST LADY'S BIOGRAPHY Dolley Todd Madison For half a century she was the most important woman in the social circles of America. To this day she remains one of the best known and best loved ladies of the White House—though often referred to, mistakenly, as Dorothy or Dorothea. She always called herself Dolley, and by that name the New Garden Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends, in Piedmont, North Carolina, recorded her birth to John and Mary Coles Payne, settlers from Virginia. In 1769 John Payne took his family back to his home colony, and in 1783 he moved them to Philadelphia, city of the Quakers. Dolley grew up in the strict discipline of the Society, but nothing muted her happy personality and her warm heart. John Todd, Jr., a lawyer, exchanged marriage vows with Dolley in 1790. Just three years later he died in a yellow-fever epidemic, leaving his wife with a small son. By this time Philadelphia had become the capital city. With her charm and her laughing blue eyes, fair skin, and black curls, the young widow attracted distinguished attention. Before long, Dolley was reporting to her best friend that "the great little Madison has asked... to see me this evening." although Representative James Madison of Virginia was 17 years her senior, and Episcopalian in background, they were married in September 1794. The marriage, though childless, was notably happy; "our hearts understand each other," she assured him. He could even be patient with Dolley's son, Payne, who mishandled his own affairs, and eventually, mismanaged Madison's estate. Discarding the somber Quaker dress after her second marriage, Dolley chose the finest of fashions. Margaret Bayard Smith, chronicler of early Washington social life, wrote, "She looked a Queen... It would be absolutely impossible for any one to behave with more perfect propriety than she did." Blessed with a desire to please and a willingness to be pleased, Dolley made her home the center of society when Madison began, in 1801, his eight years as Jefferson's Secretary of State. Mrs. Madison assisted at the White House when the president asked her help in receiving ladies, and presided at the first inaugural ball in Washington when her husband became Chief Executive in 1809. Dolley's social graces made her famous. Her political acumen, prized by her husband, is less renowned, though her gracious tact smoothed many a quarrel. Hostile statesmen, difficult envoys from Spain or Tunisia, warrior chiefs from the west, flustered youngsters—she always welcomed everyone. Forced to flee from the White House by a British army during the War of 1812, Mrs. Madison returned to find the mansion in ruins. Undaunted by temporary quarters, she entertained as skillfully as ever. At their plantation Montpelier in Virginia, the Madisons lived in pleasant retirement until he died in 1836. Dolley returned to the capital in the autumn of 1837, and friends found tactful ways to supplement her diminished income. Mrs. Madison remained in Washington until her death in 1849, honored and loved by all. The delightful personality of this unusual woman is a cherished part of her country's history. MAJOR EVENTS 1809: Macon's Bill Number 1 prohibits French or English ships from entering American ports. 1810: Macon's Bill Number 2 lifts all embargoes with Britain or France. 1812: Madison leads the nation against Great Britain in the War of 1812 after Great Britain continues to attack U.S. ships heading for France. 1814: Burning of Washington. The British capture and burn the facilities of the U.S. government, including the White House. 1814: Treaty of Ghent ends War of 1812, but due to slow communications, the war continues with the Battle of New Orleans. 1814: During the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key writes "The Star Spangled Banner" during the Battle of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. 1815: Battle of New Orleans. In the final major battle of the War of 1812, General Andrew Jackson commands the American forces who defeat the invading British Army. 1816: Second Bank of the United States is chartered. TRIVIA 1. Madison was the shortest of all the presidents at 5' 4" (163 cm) tall. 2. Madison was the first president to regularly wear pants instead of knee breeches. 3. Madison's was the only administration to have two vice presidents die while in office