#4: Madison, James

James Madison
March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836

James Madison says, "Happy Thanksgiving!"

Today is Thanksgiving and I am grateful for the health and happiness of my loved ones, and for the many opportunities this country has afforded me. Now, on to this week's forefather:

• James Madison may have been the “Father of the Constitution,” but he was also “small and frail,” according to World Book.
  
• His presidency was marked by one tremendous mistake (as far as I can tell): the War of 1812. Also during Madison’s presidency, (1) the country got its national anthem, the Star Spangled banner, (2) road and canal projects, as well as a new land system hastened settlement of the West, and (3) Madison’s wife Dolly served ice cream in the White House for the first time.
• Madison was from Virginia and he was buddy-buddy with another famous Virginian, Thomas Jefferson. (Virginia is a president-making machine! Three out of our first four presidents came from that state. Virginia is also for lovers.) Both Jefferson and Madison were slave-owners. Both Jefferson and Madison fought for separation of church and state in Virginia, even though they were devout men. After graduating from Princeton, Madison even spent "six months studying Hebrew, philosophy, and other subjects that showed his deep interest in religious questions. A weak speaking voice prevented him from taking up a career as a minister.” Later, Jefferson and Madison co-founded the Democratic Republican party, working to limit the power of federal government. Madison also served as Jefferson’s Secretary of State.
• During Madison’s tenure as president, “Denmark gave Norway to Sweden.” Wait, what?
• Also, while serving in Congress, Madison “advocated many . . . measures to stabilize and dignify the government.” Hmmm, not sure what dignification of government entails, but I guess I'm for it.
  
• Madison is credited with shaping the Constitution and the system of separation of powers that we now take for granted. His account of the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Notes on the Federal Convention, is the only record of what was said and debated. In addition, Madison played a big part in crafting the first ten amendments to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. World Book says twice that Madison was the ablest statesman of the era.
• When Madison was elected president in 1809 (beating his opponent, C.C. Pinckney, 122 electoral votes to 47!), Great Britain and France were trampling all over the rights of Americans on the high seas. Also, the peace treaty with Tripoli had basically fallen apart, and pirates were again attacking American ships on the Barbary Coast again. Facing pressure from a new crop of nationalist southerners, and having failed to find a peaceful resolution of this untenable situation, Madison declared war June 18, 1812. Bad news bears. Americans were basically beat on every front, and the British managed to invade Washington and set fire to the White House. “Dolly Madison fled the White House so late that British soldiers ate a hot meal she had prepared.” When the Treaty of Ghent was ratified in February 1815, ending the conflict, it satisfied none of the problems that started the war—only succeeding in preserving American territorial integrity.
• Nevertheless, World Book says that the War of 1812 was followed by “the era of good feeling”—a growth of nationalism. Albert Gallatin, Madison’s Secretary of the Treasury, said that the War of 1812 brought the country together: “The people . . . are more American; they feel and act more as a nation.”
• My favorite quote in the article comes from Washington Irving, writing about the presidential couple: “Mrs. Madison is a fine, portly buxom dame who has a smile and a pleasant word for everybody . . . as to Jeemy Madison—ah! poor Jeemy!—he is but a withered little apple-John.” Withered little apple-john indeed.

Thanksgiving family fun (guest drawer)! My sister kindly drew this additional picture of James Madison to contribute to this site. We both agreed that the portrait we were drawing from looked funny (it's not the drawings, I assure you).