Madison, James

Madison, James (1751–1836),4th President of the U.S. (1809–17), was born in Virginia, reared on his father's plantation, and educated at the College of New Jersey, from which he graduated (1771) as a classmate of Brackenridge and Freneau. He entered the Revolutionary struggle as a member of the local Committee of Safety, the Virginia Council of State (1778–79), and the Continental Congress (1780–83), where he favored increased power of the central government. Later, he practiced law and served in the Virginia House of Delegates, being the principal advocate of Jefferson's statute for religious liberty and other liberal measures. Madison was largely responsible for calling the Federal Constitutional Convention (1787), drew up the Virginia Plan, and won the name “Father of the Constitution” for his leadership of the Convention. Knowledge of its deliberations depends greatly on his Journal of the Federal Convention (3 vols., 1840). With Hamilton and Jay, he contributed many papers to The Federalist (1787–88), and he was a leader in his state's ratifying convention, as well as the chief advocate of the Bill of Rights. In Congress (1789–97) he supported the policies of Jefferson, with whom he wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions (1798), and under whom he served as secretary of state (1801–9). He was chosen by Jefferson to be his successor in the presi‐dency. During his two terms in this office, he was strongly opposed to English military policy, because of the impressment of American seamen and interference with American trade during the Napoleonic Wars, as well as the supposed incitement of Indian hostilities on the frontier. His Federalist opponents dubbed the War of 1812, into which he plunged the country, “Mr. Madison's War,” and blamed him for its inefficient prosecution. Not a single American aim was achieved, and, had it not been for the late victories at Baltimore, Plattsburg, Lake Erie, and New Orleans, he would have been extremely unpopular. Before his retirement, he inaugurated policies of internal improvement and a protective tariff. The most complete account of his administration is contained in Henry Adams's History of the United States During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison (9 vols., 1889–91). A definitive, scholarly edition of his Papers (1962– ) is being published in 20 volumes.