American President
James Madison (1751–1836)
Facts at a Glance
- Term
- 4th President of the United States (1809–1817)
- Born
- March 16, 1751, Port Conway, Virginia
- Nickname
- “Father of the Constitution”
- Education
- College of New Jersey (now Princeton University, graduated 1771)
- Religion
- Episcopalian
- Marriage
- September 15, 1794, to Dolley Payne Todd (1768–1849)
- Children
- None
- Career
- Politician, Planter
- Political Party
- Democratic-Republican
- Writings
- Writings (9 vols., 1900–1910), ed. by Gaillard Hunt; The Papers of James Madison (1962–), ed. by W. T. Hutchinson, R. A. Rutland, et al.
- Died
- June 28, 1836, Montpelier, Orange County, Virginia
- Buried
- Montpelier, Virginia (family plot)
- A Life in Brief
- Like his close friend Thomas Jefferson, James Madison came from a prosperous family of Virginia planters, received an excellent education, and quickly found himself drawn into the debates over independence. In 1776, he became a delegate to the revolutionary Virginia Convention, where he worked closely with Thomas Jefferson to push through religious freedom statutes, among other liberal measures. More »
- Our country abounds in the necessaries, the arts, and the comforts of life.
- March 4, 1813
Essays on James Madison and His Administration
- James Madison
- A Life in Brief
- Life Before the Presidency
- Campaigns and Elections
- Domestic Affairs
- Foreign Affairs
- Life After the Presidency
- Family Life
- The American Franchise
- Impact and Legacy
- Key Events
- First Lady
- Dolley Madison
- Vice President
- George Clinton (1809-1812)
- Elbridge Gerry (1813-1814)
- Secretary of State
- Robert Smith (1809–1811)
- James Monroe (1811–1817)
- Secretary of War
- William Eustis (1809–1812)
- John Armstrong (1813–1814)
- James Monroe (1814–1815)
- Alexander J. Dallas (1815–1815)
- William H. Crawford (1815–1816)
- George Graham (1816–1817)
- Postmaster General
- Gideon Granger (1809–1814)
- Return J. Meigs Jr. (1814–1817)
- Secretary of the Treasury
- Albert Gallatin (1809–1814)
- Alexander J. Dallas (1814- 1816)
- George W. Campbell (1814–1814)
- William H. Crawford (1816–1817)
- Attorney General
- Caesar A. Rodney (1809–1811)
- William Pinkney (1811–1814)
- Richard Rush (1814–1817)
- Secretary of the Navy
- Paul Hamilton (1809–1812)
- William Jones (1813–1814)
- Benjamin W. Crowninshield (1815–1817)
Consulting Editor: J.C.A. Stagg
Professor Stagg is the editor-in-chief of the Papers of James Madison Project and a history professor at the University of Virginia. In addition to the volumes of Madison’s papers, his writings include:
Mr. Madison’s War: Politics, Diplomacy and Warfare in the Early American Republic, 1783–1830 (Princeton University Press, 1983)
Presidential Speeches
Below are selections from the Miller Center’s James Madison speech collection.
March 4, 1809—Inaugural Address
June 1, 1812—Special Message to Congress on the Foreign Policy Crisis—War Message
March 3, 1817—Veto Message on the Internal Improvements Bill
Scholarship and Speakers
The Miller Center of Public Affairs is a national nonpartisan center to research, reflect, and report on American government, with special attention to the central role and history of the presidency. Below is a selection of Miller Center resources on James Madison.
Listen to Historians Merrill Peterson, Robert Rutland, William
Harbaugh, and Norman Graebner’s 1980 presentation at the Miller Center on Presidents Jefferson, Madison, Polk, and
Theodore Roosevelt.
President James Madison led the country as Commander in Chief during the War of 1812. Learn more about the Miller Center’s National War Powers Commission.
Learn more about the Center’s National Commission on the Selection of Federal Judges and its relationship to Madison.
Scripps Library Reference Resources
Below are links to reference resources prepared by the Miller Center’s Scripps Library, designed to help students and scholars conduct their research quickly.
Information on James Madison’s Private and Public Papers
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