James Madison 4th President of the United States (March 4, 1809 to March 3, 1817) Nicknames: "Father of the Constitution" |
Father: James Madison
Mother: Nelly Conway Madison
Married: Dolley Payne Todd (1768-1849), on September 15, 1794
Children: None
Mother: Nelly Conway Madison
Married: Dolley Payne Todd (1768-1849), on September 15, 1794
Children: None
Religion: Episcopalian
Education: Graduated from College of New Jersey (now Princeton University; 1771)
Occupation: Lawyer
Political Party: Democratic-Republican
Education: Graduated from College of New Jersey (now Princeton University; 1771)
Occupation: Lawyer
Political Party: Democratic-Republican
Life overview:
James Madison, Jr. (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836) was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States (1809–1817) and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and the author of the United States Bill of Rights.[1]
His collaboration with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay produced the Federalist Papers (1788), which became the most influential explanation and defense of the Constitution after its publication. Madison's most distinctive belief as a political theorist was the principle of divided power. Madison believed that "parchment barriers" were not sufficient to protect the rights of citizens. Power must be divided, both between federal and state governments (federalism), and within the federal government (checks and balances) to protect individual rights from the tyranny of the majority.
Madison in 1789 became a leader in the new House of Representatives, drafting many basic laws. In one of his most famous roles, he drafted the first ten amendments to the Constitution and thus is known as the "Father of the Bill of Rights".[2] Madison worked closely with the President George Washington to organize the new federal government. Breaking with Hamilton and what became the Federalist party in 1791, Madison and Thomas Jefferson organized what they called the Republican Party (later called by historians the Democratic-Republican Party)[3] in opposition to key policies of the Federalists, especially the national bank and the Jay Treaty. He co-authored, along with Thomas Jefferson, the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions in 1798 to protest the Alien and Sedition Acts.
As Jefferson’s Secretary of State (1801–1809), Madison supervised the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the nation’s size. As president, after the failure of diplomatic protests and an embargo, he led the nation into the War of 1812, in response to British encroachments on American rights. Madison was persuaded by his observations of the war to support a stronger national government and a strong military, and he called for a national bank of the sort he had long opposed.
Favorite Quote:
Notable Events:
- 1811
- Madison allows 20-year charter of Bank of the United States to lapse.
William Henry Harrison fought Indians led by Chief Tecumseh at Tippecanoe, near Indianapolis, November 7.- 1812
- War declared on England on June 18 after England continued to attack U.S. ships headed to France.
- Madison reelected.
- 1814
- City of Washington captured and burned by British, August 24.
- Francis Scott Key observed flag over Fort McHenry at Baltimore, September 14, inspiring him to write "The Star-Spangled Banner".
- Treaty of Ghent ended War of 1812 on December 24, but fighting continued.
- 1815
- Andrew Jackson defeated British at New Orleans January 8, after war ended.
- 1816
- Second Bank of the United States chartered, April 10.
Points of Interest:
- Madison was the first president who had prior service as a congressman.
- Zachary Taylor and Madison were second cousins.
- Madison was the first president to wear long trousers. All previous presidents wore knee breeches.
- During the War of 1812 Madison was under enemy fire. He was the first president to be in that situation.
- At 5 feet, 4 inches and less than 100 pounds, he was the shortest and lightest president.
- Dolley Madison sent the first personal message using the Morse telegraph in 1844.
Notable Quotes:
"I go on the principle that a public dept is a public curse."
"The Constitution of the United States was created by the people of the United States composing the respective states, who alone had the right."
"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."
"It is universally admitted that a well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people."
"In a free government the security for civil right must be the same as for religious rights. It consists in that one case in the multiplicity of interests, and the other in the multiplicity of sects."
" Always remember that an armed and trained militia is the firmest bulwark of republics--that without standing armies their liberty can never be in danger, nor with large ones safe."
"The war has proved . . . that our free Government, like other free Governments, though slow in its early movements, acquires, in its progress, a force proportioned to its freedom."
"What is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls of government would be necessary. "
"My life has been so much of a public one, that any review of it must mainly consist of the agency which was my lot in public transactions."
"Your remark is very just on the subject of Independence. It was not the offspring of a particular man or particular moment. . . . Our forefathers brought with them the germ of Independence in the principle of self-taxation. Circumstances unfolded and perfected it."
"A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy; or, perhaps both."
"It will be of little avail to the people, that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood."
"Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an ailment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction, than it would be to wish the annihilation to air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency. "
"The advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions is that the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated."
"The capacity of the female mind for studies of the highest order cannot be doubted, having been sufficiently illustrated by its works of genius, of erudition, and of science."
"It will be a desirable thing to extinguish from the bosom of every member of the community any apprehensions that there are those among his countrymen who wish to deprive them of the liberty for which they valiantly fought and honorably bled."
"To the press alone, chequered as it is with abuses, the world is indebted for all the triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression . . . that to the same beneficent source the United States owe much of the lights which conducted them to the ranks of a free and independent nation, and which have improved their political system into a shape so auspicious to their happiness."
Resources:
2011 Wikipedia. Thomas Jefferson. Retrieved 10/22/2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Madison
l2011 Great Presidential Quotes. Thomas Jefferson Retrieved 10/22/2011, from
1996-2008 Summers, Robert- James Madison. In ipl2: Information You Can Trust: POTUS. Retrieved 1022/2011, from http://potus.com/jmadison.htm
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