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  Madison, James
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationDemocratic-Republican  
<-  1821-01-01  
 
NameJames Madison
Address13384 Laundry Rd
Montpelier Station, Virginia , United States
EmailNone
WebsiteNone
Born March 16, 1751
DiedJune 28, 1836 (85 years)
ContributorJake
Last ModifedNJLBT
Feb 17, 2021 10:27am
Tags Episcopalian -
InfoAt his inauguration, James Madison, a small, wizened man, appeared old and worn; Washington Irving described him as “but a withered little apple-John.” But whatever his deficiencies in charm, Madison’s … wife Dolley compensated for them with her warmth and gaiety. She was the toast of Washington.

Born in 1751, Madison was brought up in Orange County, Virginia, and attended Princeton (then called the College of New Jersey). A student of history and government, well-read in law, he participated in the framing of the Virginia Constitution in 1776, served in the Continental Congress, and was a leader in the Virginia Assembly.

When delegates to the Constitutional Convention assembled at Philadelphia, the 36-year-old Madison took frequent and emphatic part in the debates.

Madison made a major contribution to the ratification of the Constitution by writing, with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, the Federalist essays. In later years, when he was referred to as the “Father of the Constitution,” Madison protested that the document was not “the off-spring of a single brain,” but “the work of many heads and many hands.”

In Congress, he helped frame the Bill of Rights and enact the first revenue legislation. Out of his leadership in opposition to Hamilton’s financial proposals, which he felt would unduly bestow wealth and power upon northern financiers, came the development of the Republican, or Jeffersonian, Party.

As President Jefferson’s Secretary of State, Madison protested to warring France and Britain that their seizure of American ships was contrary to international law. The protests, John Randolph acidly commented, had the effect of “a shilling pamphlet hurled against eight hundred ships of war.”

Despite the unpopular Embargo Act of 1807, which did not make the belligerent nations change their ways but did cause a depression in the United States, Madison was elected President in 1808. Before he took office the Embargo Act was repealed.

During the first year of Madison’s Administration, the United States prohibited trade with both Britain and France; then in May, 1810, Congress authorized trade with both, directing the President, if either would accept America’s view of neutral rights, to forbid trade with the other nation.

Napoleon pretended to comply. Late in 1810, Madison proclaimed non-intercourse with Great Britain. In Congress a young group including Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, the “War Hawks,” pressed the President for a more militant policy.

The British impressment of American seamen and the seizure of cargoes impelled Madison to give in to the pressure. On June 1, 1812, he asked Congress to declare war.

The young Nation was not prepared to fight; its forces took a severe trouncing. The British entered Washington and set fire to the White House and the Capitol.

But a few notable naval and military victories, climaxed by Gen. Andrew Jackson’s triumph at New Orleans, convinced Americans that the War of 1812 had been gloriously successful. An upsurge of nationalism resulted. The New England Federalists who had opposed the war–and who had even talked secession–were so thoroughly repudiated that Federalism disappeared as a national party.

In retirement at Montpelier, his estate in Orange County, Virginia, Madison spoke out against the disruptive states’ rights influences that by the 1830’s threatened to shatter the Federal Union. In a note opened after his death in 1836, he stated, “The advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions is that the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated.”

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JOB APPROVAL POLLS
DateFirmApproveDisapproveDon't Know
06/13/2007-06/24/2007 Rasmussen Reports 73.00% ( 0.0) 8.00% ( 0.0) 19.00% ( 0.0)

BOOKS
Title Purchase Contributor

EVENTS
Start Date End Date Type Title Contributor

NEWS
Date Category Headline Article Contributor

DISCUSSION
Importance? 10.00000 Average

FAMILY
Wife Dolley Payne Todd Madison 00, 1794-Jun 28, 1836
Stepson John Payne Todd 1792-1852
Stepson William Temple Todd 1793-1793

INFORMATION LINKS
Encyclopedia Virginia  Discuss
James Madison - Eighth Annual Message (December 3, 1816)  Discuss
James Madison - Fifth Annual Message (December 7, 1813)  Discuss
James Madison - First Annual Message (November 29, 1809)  Discuss
James Madison - Fourth Annual Message (November 4, 1812)  Discuss
James Madison - Message on the Special Congressional Session -- State of War and Diplomacy (May 25, 1813)  Discuss
James Madison - Message on the Special Congressional Session/State of Foreign Affairs (May 23, 1809)  Discuss
James Madison - Proclamation of a State of War with Great Britain (June 19, 1812)  Discuss
James Madison - Proclamation of Day of Fasting and Prayer (July 9, 1812)  Discuss
James Madison - Proclamation on Day of Public Humiliation and Prayer (July 23, 1813)  Discuss
James Madison - Proclamation upon British Depradations -- Burning of the Capitol (September 1, 1814)  Discuss
James Madison - Proclamation-- Occupation of West Florida (October 27, 1810)  Discuss
James Madison - Second Annual Message (December 5, 1810)  Discuss
James Madison - Seventh Annual Message (December 5, 1815)  Discuss
James Madison - Sixth Annual Message (September 20, 1814)  Discuss
James Madison - Special Message to Congress on the Foreign Policy Crisis -- War Message (June 1, 1812)  Discuss
James Madison - Special Message to Congress on the Treaty of Ghent (February 18, 1815)  Discuss
James Madison - Third Annual Message (November 5, 1811)  Discuss
James Madison - Veto Act on Incorporating the Alexandria Protestant Episcopal Church (February 21, 1811)  Discuss
James Madison - Veto Message on the Internal Improvements Bill (March 3, 1817)  Discuss
James Madison - Veto Message on the National Bank (January 30, 1815)  Discuss
President James Madison Inaugural Address March 4, 1809  Discuss
President James Madison Inaugural Address March 4, 1813  Discuss
RACES
  12/02/1812 U.S. President Won 58.99% (+17.97%)
  11/21/1812 NC US President Won 68.42% (+36.84%)
  11/16/1812 US President - National Vote Won 50.37% (+2.74%)
  11/10/1812 DE US President Lost 24.00% (-52.00%)
  11/09/1812 NY US President Lost 16.43% (-36.43%)
  11/03/1812 SC US President Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  11/03/1812 KY US President Won 95.15% (+90.31%)
  11/03/1812 LA US President Won 58.97% (+17.95%)
  11/03/1812 MD US President Won 50.96% (+1.91%)
  11/03/1812 MA US President Lost 34.99% (-30.03%)
  11/03/1812 NH US President Lost 43.96% (-12.08%)
  11/03/1812 GA US President Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  11/01/1812 VA US President Won 73.08% (+46.15%)
  11/01/1812 RI US President Lost 34.07% (-31.85%)
  11/01/1812 TN US President Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  10/30/1812 PA US President Won 62.64% (+25.28%)
  10/30/1812 OH US President Won 69.45% (+38.91%)
  10/30/1812 VT US President Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  06/08/1812 US President - DR Caucus Won 98.92% (+97.85%)
  12/07/1808 U.S. President Won 69.71% (+42.86%)
  11/11/1808 US President - National Vote Won 64.73% (+32.33%)
  11/11/1808 NC US President Won 52.72% (+10.11%)
  11/08/1808 US Vice President Lost 1.71% (-62.86%)
  11/08/1808 SC US President Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  11/07/1808 TN US President Won 94.60% (+90.22%)
  11/07/1808 RI US President Lost 46.70% (-6.59%)
  11/05/1808 OH US President Won 67.96% (+46.40%)
  11/04/1808 PA US President Won 78.37% (+56.74%)
  11/04/1808 VT US President Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  11/04/1808 VA US President Won 78.62% (+61.05%)
  11/04/1808 NH US President Lost 47.60% (-4.81%)
  11/04/1808 NJ US President Won 56.02% (+12.04%)
  11/01/1808 DE US President Lost 33.33% (-33.33%)
  11/01/1808 GA US President Won 76.28% (+52.56%)
  11/01/1808 KY US President Won 98.02% (+96.05%)
  11/01/1808 MD US President Won 63.36% (+26.73%)
  11/00/1808 CT US President Lost 22.80% (-54.40%)
  01/23/1808 US President - DR Caucus Won 93.26% (+89.89%)
  03/05/1801 U. S. Secretary of State Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  12/18/1799 VA Governor Lost 1.18% (-58.24%)
  03/16/1795 VA District 15 Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  03/18/1793 VA District 15 Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  09/01/1790 VA District 5 Won 97.79% (+95.59%)
  02/02/1789 VA District 05 - Initial Election Won 57.37% (+14.74%)
  06/01/1788 Virginia Ratifying Convention Won 42.17% (+3.13%)
  12/31/1787 VA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  12/31/1786 VA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  12/31/1782 VA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  12/31/1781 VA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  12/31/1780 VA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  12/31/1779 VA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
ENDORSEMENTS