James Madison was the fourth president of the United States and a principal architect of the Constitution. He helped write the Federalist Papers and Bill of Rights, led the early Republican opposition and served as president during the War of 1812.
James Madison also held the offices or ranks of Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia, United States Secretary of State, and President-elect of the United States. James Madison was born in Port Conway and died in Montpelier.
Barbara Hambly’s Patriot Hearts reaches James Madison chiefly through Dolley Madison, making his presidency and the British attack on Washington in 1814 part of the domestic as well as political history of the early republic. John Jakes’ The Bastard and The Rebels place the young Madison within the revolutionary generation through which the Kent family encounters the movement from colonial protest to independence. Gore Vidal’s Inventing a Nation examines Madison as one of the architects who turned revolutionary principles into a working constitutional system. Captivating History’s The War of 1812 then treats him as the president responsible for leading the United States through the conflict with Britain.
