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{{Infobox_President | name=James Madison
| nationality=American
| image=Jm4.gif
| order=4th [[President of the United States]]
| term_start=[[March 4]] [[1809]]
| term_end=[[March 4]] [[1817]]
| predecessor=[[Thomas Jefferson]]
| successor=[[James Monroe]]
| birth_date={{birth date|1751|3|16|mf=y}}
| birth_place=[[Port Conway, Virginia|Port Conway]], [[Virginia]]
| death_date={{death date and age|1836|06|28|1751|03|16}}
| death_place=[[Montpelier (James Madison)|Montpelier]], [[Virginia]]
| religion=[[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopal]]
| spouse=[[Dolley Madison|Dolley Todd Madison]]
| occupation=[[Lawyer]]
| alma_mater = [[Princeton University]]
| party=[[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]]
| vicepresident=[[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]] (1809-1812),<br>''None'' (1812-1813),<br>[[Elbridge Gerry]] (1813-1814)<br>''None'' (1814-1817)
| signature=James Madison Signature.png
| order2=5th [[United States Secretary of State]]
| term_start2=[[May 2]] [[1801]]
| term_end2=[[March 3]] [[1809]]
| president2=[[Thomas Jefferson]]
| predecessor2=[[John Marshall]]
| successor2=[[Robert Smith (cabinet)|Robert Smith]]
|}}
'''James Madison, Jr.'''<ref>http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000043 http://teachingamericanhistory.org/convention/delegates/madison.html http://etcweb.princeton.edu/CampusWWW/Companion/madison_james.html http://www.adherents.com/people/pm/James_Madison.html http://www.dkrause.com/americana/presidents/madison-james/</ref> ([[March 16]] [[1751]] – [[June 28]] [[1836]]) was an [[United States|American]] [[politician]] and the fourth [[President of the United States]] (1809–1817), and one of the [[Founding Fathers of the United States|Founding Fathers]] of the [[United States]]. Madison was the last founding father to die.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/constitution_founding_fathers_overview.html
|title=The Founding Fathers: A Brief Overview
|publisher=The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
|accessdate=2008-02-12
}}</ref> Considered to be the "Father of the Constitution", he was the principal author of the document. In [[1788]], he wrote over a third of [[Federalist Papers|the Federalist Papers]], still the most influential commentary on the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]]. As a leader in the first Congresses, he drafted many basic laws and was responsible for the first ten amendments to the Constitution (said to be based on the [[Virginia Declaration of Rights]]), and thus is also known as the "Father of the Bill of Rights".<ref>Wood, 2006b.</ref> As a political theorist, Madison's most distinctive belief was that the new republic needed checks and balances to limit the powers of special interests, which Madison called ''factions''.<ref>Robert Alan Dahl, "Madisonian Democracy," in Dahl, et al., eds. ''The Democracy Sourcebook'' (MIT Press, 2003), pp. 207-16.</ref> He believed very strongly that the new nation should fight against aristocracy and corruption and was deeply committed to creating mechanisms that would ensure [[republicanism in the United States]].<ref>Banning, 1995; Kernell, 2003; Riemer, 1954.</ref>

As leader in the House of Representatives, Madison worked closely with President [[George Washington]] to organize the new federal government. Breaking with Treasury Secretary [[Alexander Hamilton]] in 1791, Madison and [[Thomas Jefferson]] organized what they called the ''republican party'' (later called the [[Democratic-Republican Party]])<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mjm&fileName=05/mjm05.db&recNum=591 James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, [[March 2]] [[1794]].]) "I see by a paper of last evening that even in New York a meeting of the people has taken place, at the instance of the Republican Party, and that a committee is appointed for the like purpose." <br>*[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field%28DOCID+@lit%28tj060237%29%29 Thomas Jefferson to President Washington, [[May 23]] [[1792]]] "The republican party, who wish to preserve the government in its present form, are fewer in number. They are fewer even when joined by the two, three, or half dozen anti-federalists,..." <br>*[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field%28DOCID+@lit%28tj060237%29%29 Thomas Jefferson to John Melish, [[January 13]] [[1813]].] "The party called republican is steadily for the support of the present constitution"</ref> in opposition to key policies of the [[Federalist Party (United States)|Federalists]], especially the national bank and the [[Jay Treaty]]. He secretly 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, and sponsored the ill-fated [[Embargo Act of 1807]]. As president, he led the nation into the [[War of 1812]] against Great Britain in order to protect the United States' economic rights. That conflict began poorly as Americans suffered defeat after defeat by smaller forces, but ended on a high note in 1815, after which a new spirit of nationalism swept the country. During and after the war, Madison reversed many of his positions. By 1815, he supported the creation of the second National Bank, a strong military, and a high tariff to protect the new factories opened during the war.

==Personal life==

[[Image:James Madison Presidential $1 Coin obverse.png|200px|thumb|right|Presidential Dollar of James Madison]]
Madison was born in [[Port Conway, Virginia]], on [[March 16]], [[1751]] ([[March 5]] according to the [[Old Style and New Style dates|Old Style]] or [[Julian calendar]]). He was the oldest of twelve children, seven of whom reached adulthood.<ref>. According to the [[Library of Congress]], [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/madison_papers/mjmtime1.html]</ref> His parents, Colonel [[James Madison, Sr.]] ([[March 27]], [[1723]] &ndash; [[February 27]], [[1801]]) and Eleanor Rose "Nellie" Conway ([[January 9]], [[1731]] &ndash; [[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 in the [[Church of England]], the [[state religion]] of Virginia at the time. Madison's plantation life was made possible by his paternal grandfather, Ambrose Madison, who utilized Virginia's [[headright|headright system]] to import many indentured servants, thereby allowing him to accumulate a large tract of land.{{Fact|date=October 2007}} Madison, like his forebears, owned slaves.

Madison is noted for being the shortest president ever, at 5' 4" tall.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://presidentialheights.googlepages.com/
|title=PresidentialHeights - Every US president by height
|last=Shepard
|first=Timothy
|date=2007
}}</ref> He is also the lightest president ever, weighing only about 100 Lbs. It should be noted that the average American was shorter than today, and most presidents were of above average height.

Madison attended the College of New Jersey, (later to become [[Princeton University]]) with roommate poet/satirist [[Philip Morin Freneau|Phillip Freneau]], finishing its four-year course in two years, 1769-1771; and continued to study with [[John Witherspoon]], the College's president at that time, for a year after graduating. Madison has been called America's first graduate student, perhaps more accurately "Princeton's first graduate student."<ref>{{citation
|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=XYCQ7NrjK1kC&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25&dq=%22america's+first+graduate+student%22&source=web&ots=5U4wbI27rU&sig=S9ZrJFV01xNfnIXrQSFAbz5BVII
|title=The Intellectual Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy
|last=Adair
|first=Douglass G.
|date=2000
|publisher=Lexington Books
|isbn=0739101250
|pages=25
|accessdate=2007-12-21
}}</ref><ref>Dennis F. Thompson, "The Education of a Founding Father: The Reading List for John Witherspoon's Course in Political
Theory, as Taken by James Madison," ''Political Theory'' 4(1976), 523-29; Alexander Leitch: ''Princeton Companion'', "[http://etcweb.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/mfs/05/Companion/graduate_school.html Graduate School]". Even Leitch distinguishes that Madison was doing the first ''non-theological'' post-graduate work.</ref>

===Marriage and family life===
On [[September 14]] [[1794]], Madison married [[Dolley Madison|Dolley Payne Todd]], almost seventeen years his junior, who cut as attractive and vivacious a figure as he did a sickly and asocial one. Dolley is largely credited with inventing the role of [[First Lady of the United States|First Lady]] as political ally and adviser to the president. Dolley and James did not have any children of their own.

==Political career==
Madison served in the state legislature (1776-79) and became known as a protégé of Thomas Jefferson, attaining prominence in [[Virginia]] politics, helping to draft the [[Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom|Declaration of Religious Freedom]]. It disestablished the Church of England, and disclaimed any power of state compulsion in religious matters (including [[Patrick Henry]]'s plan to compel citizens to pay for a congregation of their own choice).<ref>His cousin, [[James Madison (Episcopal Bishop)|Reverend James Madison]] (1749-1812), became president of the [[College of William and Mary]] in 1777, and helped lead the changes which resulted in the formation of the [[Episcopal Diocese of Virginia]] after the War, becoming the first [[Episcopal Bishop of Virginia]] in 1790.</ref>

James Madison also persuaded Virginia to give up its claims to northwestern territories (consisting of most of modern-day [[Ohio]], [[Indiana]], and [[Illinois]]) to the [[Continental Congress]], forming the [[Northwest Territory]] in 1783. As delegate to the Continental Congress (1780-83), Madison was considered a legislative workhorse and a master of parliamentary detail.

==Father of the Constitution==
Back in the Virginia state legislature, Madison welcomed peace, but soon grew alarmed at the fragility of the [[Articles of Confederation]], and especially at the divisiveness of state governments. He strongly advocated a new constitution to overcome this divisiveness. At the [[Philadelphia Convention|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. Though Madison was a shy man, he was one of the more outspoken members of the Continental Congress. He envisioned a strong federal government that could overrule actions of the states when they were deemed mistaken; later in life he came to admire the Supreme Court as it started filling that role.<ref>Wood, 2006, pp. 163-64.</ref>

==The ''Federalist Papers''==
To aid the push for ratification in 1787 and 1788, Madison joined Alexander Hamilton and [[John Jay]] to write the ''[[Federalist Papers|The Federalist Papers]]''.<ref>[http://wikisum.com/w/Hamilton%2C_Jay%2C_and_Madison:_The_Federalist Selected summaries of ''The Federalist Papers'']</ref> Among other contributions, Madison wrote paper #10, in which he explained how a large country with many different interests and factions could support republican values better than a small country dominated by a few special interests. His interpretation was largely ignored at the time, but in the 20th century became a central part of the [[Pluralism (political theory)|pluralist]] interpretation of American politics.<ref>Larry D. Kramer, "Madison's Audience," ''Harvard Law Review'' 112,3 (1999), pp. 611+ [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=96849383 online version].</ref>

In Virginia in 1788, after the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], Madison led the fight for ratification of the Constitution at the state's convention, oratorically dueling with Patrick Henry and others who sought revisions (such as the [[United States 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, he protested the title as being "a credit to which I have no claim... [The 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".<ref name=Banning>Lance Banning, "James Madison: Federalist," note 1, [http://www.loc.gov/loc/madison/banning-paper.html].</ref>

He wrote Hamilton, at the New York ratifying convention, observing that his opinion was that "ratification was ''in toto'' and ''for ever''". The Virginia convention had considered conditional ratification worse than a rejection.<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(dg025177)) Letter] of [[July 20]] [[1788]].</ref>

==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 became an important leader from the [[1st United States Congress|First Congress]] (1789) through the [[4th United States Congress|Fourth Congress]] (1797).

Initially Madison "adamantly maintained ... that a specific bill of rights remained unnecessary because the Constitution itself was a bill of rights."<ref>Matthews, 1995, p. 130.</ref> Madison had three main objections to a specific bill of rights:
(a) it was unnecessary, since it purported to protect against powers that the federal government had not been granted;
(b) it was dangerous, since enumeration of some rights might be taken to imply the absence of other rights; and
(c) at the state level, bills of rights had proven to be useless paper barriers against government powers.<ref>Wood, 2006b.</ref>
But the anti-Federalists demanded a bill of rights in exchange for their support for ratification. Over two hundred proposals were submitted from throughout the country. Madison ignored the proposals for structural change of the government, and synthesized the others into a list of proposals for the protection of civil rights, such as free speech, right of the people to bear arms, and [[habeas corpus]]. Still ambiguous as late as 1788 in his support for a bill of rights,<ref>Matthews, 1995, p. 142.</ref> in June 1789 Madison offered a package of twelve proposed amendments to the Constitution.<ref>http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=105_cong_documents&docid=f:sd011.105</ref> Madison eventually completed the reversal of his original opposition and "hounded his colleagues relentlessly" to accept his proposed amendments.<ref>Wood, 2006b.</ref>

By 1791, the last ten of Madison's proposed amendments were ratified and became the Bill of Rights. Contrary to his wishes, the Bill of Rights was not integrated into the main body of the Constitution, and it did not apply to the states until the passages of [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth]] and [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifteenth Amendments]] restricted the powers of the states. The [[Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution|second of the proposed twelve]] was ratified in 1992 as the Constitution's Twenty-seventh Amendment. The [[Article The First|remaining proposal]] was intended to accommodate future increase in members of the House of Representatives.

==Opposition to Hamilton==
The chief characteristic of Madison's time in Congress was his work to limit the power of the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]]. Wood (2006a) argued that Madison never wanted a national government that took an active role. He was horrified to discover that Hamilton and Washington were creating "a real modern European type of government with a bureaucracy, a standing army, and a powerful independent executive".<ref>Wood, 2006a, p. 165.</ref>

When Britain and France went to war in 1793 the U.S. was caught in the middle. The 1778 treaty of alliance with France was still in effect, yet most of the new country's trade was with Britain. War with Britain seemed imminent in 1794, as the British seized hundreds of American ships that were trading with French colonies. Madison (in collaboration with Jefferson, who had returned to 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. Great Britain, he charged, "has bound us in commercial manacles, and very nearly defeated the object of our independence". As Varg explains, Madison had no fear of British recriminations for "her interests can be wounded almost mortally, while ours are invulnerable." The British West Indies, he maintained, could not live without American foodstuffs, but Americans could easily do without British manufactures. This same faith led him to the conclusion "that it is in our power, in a very short time, to supply all the tonnage necessary for our own commerce".<ref>Paul A. Varg, ''Foreign Policies of the Founding Fathers'' (Michigan State Univ. Press, 1963), p. 74.</ref> However, George Washington avoided a trade war and instead secured friendly trade relations with Britain through the Jay Treaty of 1794, a treaty that Madison tried but failed to defeat. All across the country, voters divided for and against the Treaty and other key issues, and thus became Federalists or [[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republicans]].

Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton built a nationwide network of supporters that became the [[Federalist Party (United States)|Federalist Party]] and promoted a strong central government with a national bank. To oppose the Federalists, Madison and Jefferson organized the Democratic-Republican Party. Madison led the unsuccessful attempt to block Hamilton's proposed [[First Bank of the United States|Bank of the United States]], arguing the new Constitution did not explicitly allow the federal government to form a bank.<ref>As early as [[May 26]] [[1792]], Hamilton complained, "Mr. Madison cooperating with Mr. Jefferson is at the head of a faction decidedly hostile to me and my administration." Hamilton, ''Writings'' (Library of America, 2001), p. 738. On [[May 5]] [[1792]], Madison told Washington, "with respect to the spirit of party that was taking place ...I was sensible of its existence". ''Madison Letters'' 1 (1865), p. 554.</ref>

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 started with opposing Hamilton;<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://columbia.thefreedictionary.com/Madison,+James
|title=definition of ''Madison, James''
|publisher=Free Online Encyclopedia
|accessdate=2008-02-03
}}</ref> by 1793 he was opposing Washington as well.{{Fact|date=February 2008}} 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 caused Madison to appreciate the need for a strong central government to aid national defense. He then began to support a national bank, a stronger navy, and a standing army. However, other historians, led by Lance Banning and [[Gordon S. Wood]], see more continuity in Madison's views and do not see a sharp break in 1792.

==United States Secretary of State==
The main challenge which faced 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 I of France|Napoleon]] realized he could not defend that vast territory, and it was to France's advantage that Britain not seize it. Madison and President Jefferson reversed party policy to negotiate for the Purchase and then win Congressional approval. Madison tried to maintain neutrality between Britain and France, 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 and France, forbidding Americans to trade with any foreign nation. The embargo failed as foreign policy, and instead caused massive hardships in the southern seaboard, which depended on foreign trade.

During his term as Secretary of State he was a party to the Supreme Court case [[Marbury v. Madison]], in which the doctrine of [[judicial review]] was asserted by the high Court.

The party's Congressional [[Caucus]] chose presidential candidates, and Madison was selected in the [[United States presidential election, 1808|election of 1808]], easily defeating [[Charles Cotesworth Pinckney]], riding on the coattails of Jefferson's popularity. [[United States Congress|Congress]] repealed the failed [[embargo]] as Madison took office.

==Presidency 1809–1817==
[[Image:JamesMadison.jpg|right|thumb|James Madison]]

===The Bank of the United States ===
The twenty year charter of the [[first Bank of the United States]] was scheduled to expire in 1811, the second year of Madison's administration. Madison failed to block the Bank in 1791, and waited for its charter to expire. Secretary of the Treasury Gallatin wanted the bank rechartered, and when the War of 1812 broke out discovered how difficult it was to finance the war without the Bank. Gallatin's successor as Treasury Secretary [[Alexander J. Dallas (statesman)|Alexander J. Dallas]] proposed a replacement in 1814, but Madison vetoed the bill in 1815. By late 1815, however, Madison asked Congress for a new bank, which had strong support from the younger, nationalistic republicans such as [[John C. Calhoun]] and [[Henry Clay]], as well as Federalist [[Daniel Webster]]. Madison signed it into law in 1816 and appointed [[William Jones (statesman)|William Jones]] as its president.

===War of 1812===
{{main|War of 1812}}
British insults continued, especially the practice of using the Royal Navy to intercept unarmed American merchant ships and "[[impressment|impress]]" (conscript) all sailors who might be British subjects for service in the British navy{{Fact|date=November 2007}}. 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 provide a good bargaining chip. (After long debates historians now agree that Americans did not desire to acquire Canadian lands, but to stop British aid to the hostile Indians.{{Fact|date=November 2007}}) 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]]). Some historians in 2006 ranked Madison's failure to avoid war as the sixth worst presidential mistake ever made.<ref name = "CTV">{{cite web
|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060218/presidential_errors_060218/20060218?hub=World
|title=U.S. historians pick top 10 presidential errors
|publisher=Associated Press article in CTV
|date=February 18, 2006
|accessdate=2008-02-03
}}</ref>

In the ensuing War of 1812, the British, Canadians, and [[First Nations]]{{Fact|date=March 2008}} allies won numerous victories, including the capture of [[Detroit]] after the American general there surrendered to a smaller force without a fight, and the [[Burning of Washington|occupation of Washington, D.C.]] which forced Madison to flee the city and watch as the [[White House]] was set on fire by British troops. The attack was in retaliation for a U.S. invasion of [[York, Upper Canada]] (now [[Toronto, Ontario]]), in which U.S. forces twice occupied the city, burning the [[Parliament Buildings of Upper Canada]]. The British also armed [[American Indians in the United States|American Indians]] in the West, most notably followers of [[Tecumseh]]. Finally the Indians were defeated and a standoff was reached on the Canadian border. The Americans built warships on the [[Great Lakes]] faster than the British and defeated the British fleet to avert a major invasion of New York in 1814. At sea, the British blockaded the entire coastline, cutting off both foreign trade and domestic trade between ports. Economic hardship was severe in New England, but entrepreneurs built factories that soon became the basis of the industrial revolution in America.

Madison faced formidable obstacles--a divided cabinet, a factious party, a recalcitrant Congress, obstructionist governors, and amazingly incompetent generals, together with militia who refused to fight outside their states. Most serious was lack of unified popular support. There were serious threats of disunion from New England, which engaged in massive smuggling to Canada and refused to provide financial support or soldiers.<ref>Stagg, 1983.</ref> However [[Andrew Jackson]] in the South and [[William Henry Harrison]] in the West destroyed the main Indian threats by 1813.

After the apparent defeat of Napoleon in 1814, both the British and Americans were exhausted, the causes of the war had been forgotten, the Indian issue was resolved, and it was time for peace. New England Federalists, however, set up a defeatist [[Hartford Convention]] that discussed secession. The [[Treaty of Ghent]] ended the war in 1815. There were no territorial gains on either side as both sides returned to ''[[status quo ante bellum]]'', that is, the previous boundaries. The [[Battle of New Orleans]], in which Andrew Jackson defeated the British regulars, was fought fifteen days after the treaty was signed but before the news of the signing reached New Orleans.

With peace finally established, the U.S. was swept by a sense of euphoria and national achievement in finally securing solid independence from Britain. In Canada, the war and its conclusion represented a successful defense of the country, and a defining era in the formation of an independent national identity. This, coupled with ongoing suspicion of a U.S. desire to again invade the country, would culminate in creation of the [[Dominion of Canada]] in [[1867]]. In the U.S., the Federalist Party collapsed and eventually disappeared from politics, as an [[Era of Good Feeling]] emerged with a much lower level of political fear and vituperation, although political contention certainly continued.

===Postwar===
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:

{{cquote|Having considered the bill&nbsp;... 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&nbsp;... in the&nbsp;... Constitution, and it does not appear that the power proposed to be exercised by the bill is among the enumerated powers.<ref name = "Tax">[http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/981.html Tax Foundation]</ref>}}

Madison rejected the view of Congress that the General Welfare provision of the [[Taxing and Spending Clause]] justified the bill, stating:

{{cquote|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===
{{Infobox U.S. Cabinet
|align=left
|clear=yes
|Name=Madison
|President=James Madison
|President start=1809
|President end=1817
|Vice President=[[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]]
|Vice President start=1809
|Vice President end=1812
|Vice President 2=''None''
|Vice President start 2=1812
|Vice President end 2=1813
|Vice President 3=[[Elbridge Gerry]]
|Vice President start 3=1813
|Vice President end 3=1814
|Vice President 4=''None''
|Vice President start 4=1814
|Vice President end 4=1817
|State=[[Robert Smith (cabinet)|Robert Smith]]
|State start=1809
|State end=1811
|State 2=[[James Monroe]]
|State start 2=1811
|State end 2=1814
|State 3=&thinsp;
|State start 3=1815
|State end 3=1817
|Treasury=[[Albert Gallatin]]
|Treasury start=1809
|Treasury end=1814
|Treasury 2=[[George W. Campbell]]
|Treasury date 2=1814
|Treasury 3=[[Alexander J. Dallas (statesman)|Alexander J. Dallas]]
|Treasury start 3=1814
|Treasury end 3=1816
|Treasury 4=[[William H. Crawford]]
|Treasury start 4=1816
|Treasury end 4=1817
|War=[[William Eustis]]
|War start=1809
|War end=1813
|War 2=[[John Armstrong, Jr.]]
|War start 2=1813
|War end 2=1814
|War 3=[[James Monroe]]
|War start 3=1814
|War end 3=1815
|War 4=[[William H. Crawford]]
|War start 4=1815
|War end 4=1816
|Justice=[[Caesar A. Rodney]]
|Justice start=1809
|Justice end=1811
|Justice 2=[[William Pinkney]]
|Justice start 2=1811
|Justice end 2=1814
|Justice 3=[[Richard Rush]]
|Justice start 3=1814
|Justice end 3=1817
|Post=[[Gideon Granger]]
|Post start=1809
|Post end=1814
|Post 2=[[Return J. Meigs, Jr.]]
|Post start 2=1814
|Post end 2=1817
|Navy=[[Paul Hamilton]]
|Navy start=1809
|Navy end=1813
|Navy 2=[[William Jones (statesman)|William Jones]]
|Navy start 2=1813
|Navy end 2=1814
|Navy 3=[[Benjamin Williams Crowninshield|Benjamin W. Crowninshield]]
|Navy start 3=1814
|Navy end 3=1817
}}

===Supreme Court appointments===
Madison appointed the following Justices to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]]:
*'''[[Gabriel Duvall]]''' &ndash; [[1811]]
*'''[[Joseph Story]]''' &ndash; [[1812]]

===States admitted to the Union===
*'''[[Louisiana]]''' &ndash; [[April 30]] [[1812]]
*'''[[Indiana]]''' &ndash; [[December 11]] [[1816]]

==Later life==
When Madison left office in 1817, he retired to [[Montpelier (James Madison)|Montpelier]], his tobacco plantation in Virginia; not far from Jefferson's [[Monticello]]. Madison was then 65 years old. Dolley, who thought they would finally have a chance to travel to Paris, was 49. But as with both Washington and Jefferson, Madison left the presidency a poorer man than when he entered, due to the steady financial collapse of his plantation. Some historians speculate that his mounting debt was one of the chief reasons why he refused to allow his notes on the Constitution Convention, or its official records which he possessed, to be published in his lifetime "He knew the value of his notes, and wanted them to bring money to his estate for Dolley's use as his plantation failed -- he was hoping for one hundred thousand dollars from the sale of his papers, of which the notes were the gem."<ref>Garry Wills, ''James Madison'' (Times Books, 2002), p. 163.</ref> Madison's financial troubles and deteriorating mental and physical health would continue to consume him.

In his later years Madison also became extremely concerned about his legacy. He took to modifying letters and other documents in his possessions: changing days and dates, adding and deleting words and sentences, and shifting characters. By the time he had reached his late seventies, this "straightening out" had become almost an obsession. This can be seen by his editing of a letter he had written to Jefferson criticizing Lafayette: Madison not only inked out original passages, but went so far as to imitate Jefferson's handwriting as well.<ref>Ibid., p. 162.</ref> In Madison's mind, this may have represented an effort to make himself clear, to justify his actions both to history and to himself.

{{cquote|During the final six years of his life, amid a sea of personal [financial] troubles that were threatening to engulf him...At times mental agitation issued in physical collapse. For the better part of a year in 1831 and 1832 he was bedridden, if not silenced...Literally sick with anxiety, he began to despair of his ability to make himself understood by his fellow citizens.<ref>Drew R. McCoy, ''The Last of the Fathers: James Madison and the Republican Legacy'' (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1989), p.151.</ref>}}

In 1829, at the age of seventy-eight, Madison was chosen as a representative to the constitutional convention in Richmond for the revising of the Virginia state constitution; this was to be Madison's last appearance as a legislator and constitutional draftsman.

The issue of greatest importance at this convention was [[apportionment]]. The western districts of Virginia complained that they were under-represented because the state constitution apportioned voting districts by population, and the count included slaves even though slaves could not vote. Westerners had few slaves, while the Eastern planters had many, and thus the vote of a white easterner outweighed the vote of a white westerner.

Madison, who in his prime was known as "the Great Legislator", tried to effect a compromise, such as the 3/5 ratio for a slave then used by the U.S. Constitution, but to no avail. Eventually, the eastern planters prevailed. Slaves would continue to be counted toward their masters' districts. Madison was crushed at the failure of Virginians to resolve the issue more equably. "The Convention of 1829, we might say, pushed Madison steadily to the brink of self-delusion, if not despair. The dilemma of slavery undid him."<ref>Ibid., p. 252.</ref>

Although his health had now almost failed, he managed to produce several memoranda on political subjects, including an essay against the appointment of [[chaplain]]s for Congress and the armed forces, on the grounds that this produced religious exclusion, but not political harmony.<ref>He was tempted to admit chaplains for the navy, which might well have no other opportunity for worship.The [http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendI_religions64.html text] of the memoranda</ref>

Madison lived on until 1836, increasingly ignored by the new leaders of the American polity. He died at Montpellier on [[June 28]], the last remaining signatory of the United States Constitution.

As historian Garry Wills wrote:
{{cquote|Madison's claim on our admiration does not rest on a perfect consistency, any more than it rests on his presidency. He has other virtues.... As a framer and defender of the Constitution he had no peer.... The finest part of Madison's performance as president was his concern for the preserving of the Constitution.... No man could do everything for the country&nbsp;&ndash; not even Washington. Madison did more than most, and did some things better than any. That was quite enough.<ref>Wills, ''James Madison'' (Times Books, 2002), p. 164.</ref>}}

==Legacy==
*Several counties, towns, cities, educational institutions, and a river were named after James Madison. These are a few: [[Madison County, Ohio]];<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.madisoncountychamber.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1&Itemid=2
|title=Madison County of Ohio &ndash; Community Information
|publisher=Madison County Chamber of Commerce
|accessdate=2008-02-03
}}</ref> [[Madison, Indiana]]; [[Madison, Wisconsin]]; [[Madison, Georgia]]; the [[James Madison College]] of public policy at [[Michigan State University]]; [[James Madison University]] in [[Harrisonburg, Virginia]]; the [[Madison River]] (183 miles long) in southwestern Montana (named in 1805 by Lewis & Clark), and [[Madison County, Illinois]].<ref name="historicgville"> Allan H. Keith, [http://books.google.com/books?id=1gJ_RVeb5JYC&pg=PA2&dq=richard+bock+sculptor&ie=ISO-8859-1&sig=ngQRYGbj78gEH8yXNlEZrDnRlMU#PPA1,M1 ''Historical Stories: About Greenville and Bond County, IL'']. Consulted on August 15, 2007. </ref>

*Several [[U.S. Navy]] ships have been [[USS James Madison|named for James Madison]].
*Madison's portrait was on the U.S. [[Large bills|$5000 bill]].<ref> {{cite web|url=http://www.moneyfactory.gov/document.cfm/5/42/159 |title=Five Thousand Green Seal |accessdate=2007-06-26 |publisher=The United States Treasury Bureau of Engraving and Printing }}</ref>

*Madison is the only president to have had two vice-presidents die on him while in office.

==See also==
* [[List of U.S. Presidential religious affiliations]]
* [[James Madison University]], named ''Madison College'' after him in [[1936]]
** [[James Madison Dukes]], the athletic teams representing the above school
* [[James Madison College]], a residential honors college of Michigan State University
* [[Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787]]
* [[Report of 1800]], produced by Madison to support the Virginia Resolutions

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

===Secondary sources===
====Biographies====
* Brant, Irving. "James Madison and His Times," ''American Historical Review.'' 57,4(July, 1952), 853-870.
* Brant, Irving. ''James Madison'', 6 vols., (Bobbs-Merrill, 1941-1961). most detailed scholarly biography.
* Brant, Irving. ''The Fourth President; a Life of James Madison'' (Bobbs-Merrill, 1970). one-volume condensation of his series.
* Ketcham, Ralph. ''James Madison: A Biography'' (Macmillan, 1971). standard scholarly biography.
* Rakove, Jack. ''James Madison and the Creation of the American Republic'', 2nd ed., (Longman, 2002).
* Riemer, Neal. ''James Madison'' (Washington Square Press, 1968).
* Wills, Garry. ''James Madison'' (Times Books, 2002). short bio.

====Analytic studies====
* Adams, Henry. ''History of the United States during the [First and Second] Administrations of James Madison'' (C. Scribners's Sons, 1890-91; Library of America, 1986).
** Wills, Garry. ''Henry Adams and the Making of America'' (Houghton Mifflin, 2005). a close reading.
* Banning, Lance. ''The Sacred Fire of Liberty: James Madison and the Founding of the Federal Republic'' (Cornell Univ. Press, 1995). [http://ets.umdl.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=acls;cc=acls;view=toc;idno=HEB00509.0001.001 online ACLS History e-Book]. Available only to subscribing institutions.
* Brant, Irving. ''James Madison and American Nationalism''. (Van Nostrand Co., 1968).
* Elkins, Stanley M.; McKitrick, Eric. ''The Age of Federalism'' (Oxford Univ. Press, 1995). most detailed analysis of the politics of the 1790s.
* Kernell, Samuel, ed. ''James Madison: the Theory and Practice of Republican Government'' (Stanford Univ. Press, 2003).
* Matthews, Richard K., ''If Men Were Angels : James Madison and the Heartless Empire of Reason'' (Univ. Press of Kansas, 1995).
* McCoy, Drew R. ''The Elusive Republic: Political Economy in Jeffersonian America'' (W.W. Norton, 1980). mostly economic issues.
** McCoy, ''The Last of the Fathers: James Madison and the Republican Legacy'' (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1989). JM after 1816.
* Muñoz, Vincent Phillip. "James Madison's Principle of Religious Liberty," ''American Political Science Review'' 97,1(2003), 17-32. {{SSRN|512922}} in JSTOR.
* Riemer, Neal. "The Republicanism of James Madison," ''Political Science Quarterly,'' 69,1(1954), 45-64 in JSTOR.
** Riemer, ''James Madison : Creating the American Constitution'' (Congressional Quarterly, 1986).
* Rutland, Robert A. ''The Presidency of James Madison'' (Univ. Press of Kansas, 1990). scholarly overview of his two terms.
** Rutland, ed. ''James Madison and the American Nation, 1751-1836: An Encyclopedia'' (Simon & Schuster, 1994).
* Sheehan, Colleen A. "The Politics of Public Opinion: James Madison's 'Notes on Government'," ''William and Mary Quarterly 3rd ser.'' 49,3(1992), 609-627. in JSTOR.
** Sheehan, "Madison and the French Enlightenment," ''William and Mary Quarterly 3rd ser.'' 59,4(Oct. 2002), 925-956. in JSTOR.
** Sheehan, "Madison v. Hamilton: The Battle Over Republicanism and the Role of Public Opinion," ''American Political Science Review'' 98,3(2004), 405-424. in JSTOR.
** Sheehan, "Madison Avenues," ''Claremont Review of Books'' (Spring 2004), [http://www.claremont.org/writings/crb/spring2004/sheehan.html online].
** Sheehan, "Public Opinion and the Formation of Civic Character in Madison's Republican Theory," ''Review of Politics'' 67,1(Winter 2005), 37-48.
* Stagg, John C.A., "James Madison and the 'Malcontents': The Political Origins of the War of 1812," ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 3rd ser. 33,4(Oct. 1976), 557-585.
** Stagg, "James Madison and the Coercion of Great Britain: Canada, the West Indies, and the War of 1812," in ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 3rd ser. 38,1(Jan., 1981), 3-34.
** Stagg, ''Mr. Madison's War: Politics, Diplomacy, and Warfare in the Early American republic, 1783-1830'' (Princeton, 1983).
* Wood, Gordon S., "Is There a 'James Madison Problem'?" in Wood, ''Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different'' (Penguin Press, 2006a), 141-72.
** Wood, "Without Him, No Bill of Rights : ''James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights'' by Richard Labunski", ''The New York Review of Books'' ([[November 30]] [[2006]]b).

===Primary sources===
* Rakove, Jack N., ed. ''James Madison, Writings'' ([[Library of America]], 1999) ISBN 978-1-88301166-6. Over 900 pages of letters, speeches and reports.
* James Madison, ''Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 Reported by James Madison'' (W.W. Norton, 1987); [pb: ISBN 0393304051] ([http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/debates/debcont.htm]
* James Madison, ''Letters & Other Writings Of James Madison Fourth President Of The United States'', 4 vols., (J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1865); called the ''Congress edition''. [http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC00239122&id=pb2s8DG_2WUC&pg=RA1-PR11&lpg=RA1-PR11&dq=Letters+%26+Other+Writings+Of+James+Madison+Fourth+President online edition]
* William T. Hutchinson et al., eds., ''The Papers of James Madison'' (Univ. of Chicago Press, 1962-). the definitive multivolume edition. [http://www.virginia.edu/pjm/description1.htm 29 volumes have been published, with 16+ more volumes planned.]
* Gaillard Hunt, ed. ''The Writings of James Madison'', 9 vols., (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1900-1910). [http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC00752381&id=ri4fEe_y99kC&pg=RA3-PR21&lpg=RA3-PR21&dq=Writings+of+James+Madison:+comprising+his+public+papers online edition]
* Marvin Myers, ed. ''Mind of the Founder: Sources of the Political Thought of James Madison'' (Univ. Press of New England, 1981;1973) [ISBN 0-87451-201-8].
* James M. Smith, ed. ''The Republic of Letters: The Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, 1776-1826''. 3 vols., (W.W. Norton, 1995).
* Jacob E. Cooke, ed. ''The Federalist'' (Wesleyan Univ. Press, 1961).

==External links==
{{wikisource author}}
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons}}
{{CongBio|M000043}}
*[http://www.millercenter.virginia.edu/index.php/academic/americanpresident/madison Extensive essay on James Madison and shorter essays on each member of his cabinet and First Lady from the Miller Center of Public Affairs]
*[http://www.american-presidents.com/presidents/james-madison James Madison Biography and Fact File]
*[http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quotes_by/james+madison Quotations by James Madison] at Liberty-Tree.ca
*[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/collections/madison_papers/ 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.
*[http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/madispap.htm The Papers of James Madison] from the [[Avalon Project]]
*[http://religiousfreedom.lib.virginia.edu/sacred/madison_m&r_1785.html Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments, 1785]
*[http://www.jamesmadisonmus.org/textpages/will.htm Madison's last will and testament, 1835]
*[http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jm4.html Official White House page for James Madison]
* {{Gutenberg author| id=James+Madison | name=James Madison}}
*[http://www.jamesmadisonmus.org/ James Madison Museum]
*[http://www.montpelier.org/ Montpelier-Home of James Madison]
* [http://www.loc.gov/loc/madison/hutson-paper.html ''James Madison and the Social Utility of Religion: Risks vs. Rewards'', James Hutson, Library of Congress]
* [http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/reference/wak/presidents/madison_james.html Yahooligans!, James Madison]
*{{cite web
|url=http://www.princeton.edu/paw/archive_new/PAW07-08/07-0123/features_the25.html
|title=Alumni who changed America, and the world
|author=George F. Will
|date=[[January 23]], [[2008]]
|publisher=Princeton Alumni Weekly
}}

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|SHORT DESCRIPTION=fourth [[President of the United States of America]] (1809–1817)
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|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Port Conway, Virginia]]
|DATE OF DEATH=1836-06-28
|PLACE OF DEATH=[[Montpelier (James Madison)|Montpelier]], [[Virginia]]
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[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:United States Secretaries of State]]
[[Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia]]
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[[Category:Signers of the United States Constitution]]
[[Category:United States presidential candidates, 1808]]
[[Category:United States presidential candidates, 1812]]
[[Category:Federalist Papers]]
[[Category:American people of the War of 1812]]
[[Category:History of the United States (1789–1849)]]
[[Category:Democratic Republicans]]
[[Category:Virginia colonial people]]
[[Category:People of Virginia in the American Revolution]]
[[Category:Princeton University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Virginia]]
[[Category:English Americans]]
[[Category:American Episcopalians]]
[[Category:1751 births]]
[[Category:1836 deaths]]

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