President James Madison was born in 1751, the oldest of 10 children in Orange County, Virginia. He attended Princeton (then called the College of New Jersey), and was a student of history and government. President James Madison participated in framing the constitution in 1776, was a leader in the Virginia Assembly and served in the Continental Congress.
President James Madison held an important role in the Constitutional Convention debates held in Philadelphia, and made a major contribution to the Constitution when Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and himself wrote the Federalists essays.
While in congress, President James Madison helped frame the Bill of Rights and enact the first revenue legislation. Out of his leadership in disagreement with Hamilton's financial proposals, which he felt would improperly give wealth and power to northern financiers came the development of the Republican, or Jeffersonian, Party.
James got married in 1794 to a widow named Dolley Payne Todd, who already had a son. She was also 16 years younger than him.
President James Madison became president in 1808, succeeding President Jefferson. Much like the presidents before him, President James Madison was entangled in the consequences of European wars. The countless attacks and seizures of US ships, by the British and French in open waters, and a depression helped fuel a fire which lead to the War of 1812, despite diplomatic techniques.
The war lasted until 1814, ending with the Treaty of Ghent.
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."
James Madison the President died at the age of 85 in 1836.