Memorable Quotations from James Madison

Born in Port Conway, Virginia, James Madison (1751-1836) was the 4th president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. An early challenger of British colonial actions, he helped draft the Constitution for the new state of Virginia, served in the Continental Congress, and was a member of the Virginia legislature. His contributions at the Federal Constitutional Convention in 1787 gained him the title "master builder of the Constitution." A major contributor to the Federalist Papers, he was principally responsible for securing ratification of the Constitution in Virginia. As a congressman from Virginia (1789-1797), he was an ardent advocate of the Bill of Rights. A resolute enemy of the financial measures of Alexander Hamilton, he was a prominent Jeffersonian and drew up the Virginia resolutions protesting the Alien and Sedition Acts. After Jefferson prevailed in the presidential election of 1800, Madison became his secretary of state. He followed Jefferson as president in 1809. The detested and failed War of 1812, known disapprovingly as "Mr. Madison's War," was the principal occurrence of his administration. His term in office beheld the beginning of postwar national expansion and the growth of Jacksonian democracy. Retiring in 1817, he lived peacefully at Montpelier with his wife, Dolley Madison (1768-1849). She wed Madison in 1794, a year after her first husband had died. As official White House hostess for Thomas Jefferson, a widower, and for her husband, she was renowned for the brilliance of her entertainments, as well as for her charisma, discretion, and refinement.