In Congress, he helped frame the Bill of Rights and enact the first revenue legislation. 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.” Madison made a major contribution to the ratification of the Constitution by writing, with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, the Federalist essays. When delegates to the Constitutional Convention assembled at Philadelphia, the 36-year-old Madison took frequent and emphatic part in the debates. 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.

She was the toast of Washington.īorn in 1751, Madison was brought up in Orange County, Virginia, and attended Princeton (then called the College of New Jersey). In later years, he was referred to as the “Father of the Constitution.”Īt 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. James Madison, America’s fourth President (1809-1817), made a major contribution to the ratification of the Constitution by writing The Federalist Papers, along with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. The biography for President Madison and past presidents is courtesy of the White House Historical Association.

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