James Madison: A Biography by Ralph Ketcham

The advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions is that the United States be cherished and perpetuated. ~ James Madison

 

This is an enlightening read about the 4th President of the United States.

 

Previously, I had a general perception that Madison, along with James Monroe, merely rode Jefferson’s coat tails, that he had a role in the establishment of the Constitution, and got stuck with the untenable prospect of avoiding war with Great Britain. I was woefully ignorant of this remarkable man.

 

He was closely aligned with Jefferson, but he was far more than a Jefferson disciple. Indeed his counsel often tempered Jefferson’s impetuousness.

 

Jefferson called Madison his…“pillar of support through life.”

 

But we might learn more about a man from his foes rather than his friends. John Adams said that Madison

...acquired more glory, and established more Union, than all his three Predecessors, Washington, Adams and Jefferson put together.

 

And we can learn yet more by what he says about his opponents. Madison had many throughout his career, including some who changed course over the years, but he was always, careful, measured, and respectful when speaking of men like Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry, John Adams, or Benjamin Franklin.

 

James Madison was a Virginia planter, who rose to prominence in the American Revolution. Physically, he was unimpressive: short, shy, and soft spoken. He had a quiet passion for his young country, and deliberate, unassailable logic.

 

Madison was a close personal advisor to President Washington, Secretary of State under President Jefferson, and of course President of the United States from 1809 – 1817. But these are just roles. His two greatest achievements were the creation of the U.S. Constitution, and his leadership during the War of 1812.

 

Madison recognized the Articles of Confederation were insufficient for guiding the new nation, and wrote the Virginia Plan which was the model for the U.S. Constitution.

 

He was the “Father of the Constitution” which is pithy and trite and doesn’t do him justice. With the many competing factions, it is miraculous that the convention ever reached an agreement, and then a second miracle that it was ratified by the states. Madison, more than any other single individual was responsible for both. He wrote

 

…we kept steadily in our view…the consolidation of our Union, in which is involved our prosperity, felicity, safety, perhaps our national existence…

 

 

He considered his role in establishing the Constitution his moment of special destiny.

 

Though, he couldn’t anticipate his presidency and the War of 1812. For decades, the U.S. had struggled to remain neutral in Anglo-French conflicts, but the demands of Great Britain, only slightly more egregious than the demands of France finally made it impossible. The three main complaints from the U.S. perspective were: impressment of U.S. seamen into the British Navy, British naval harassment and seizure of U.S. commercial vessels, and Britain’s Orders of Council. Madison, was plagued by inferior numbers in the army and navy, lack of professional officers, inept and even treacherous cabinet officers, and lack of money to fund the war effort. Yet somehow the U.S. survived with honor.

 

And you cannot talk about James Madison, without talking about Dolley. Madison married the widow Dolley Payne Todd when he was 43 and she was 26. In the early 19th Century, the President’s success was measured partially by his social standing, where Dolley ensured her husband triumphed. Additionally, she often played hostess for the bachelor President Jefferson, so she was defacto first lady for 16 years. Madison considered her so critical to the nation’s morale, that after the British forces quit the capital, President Madison urged her

 

…for the sake of the city’s morale, you cannot return too soon.

 

James Madison once expressed the wish to expire on the Fourth of July, as Jefferson and Adams had. But on June 28, 1836, at the age of 85, he declared he’d had a change of mind, and passed quietly away.

 

This biography sometimes necessarily bogs down in the details, but overall an excellent and enlightening read.

.