James Madison (Early Republic)

President James Madison (1809-1817)

He could not get elected President today—too short (a slight 5’ 3”). He couldn’t get appointed to the Supreme Court—an original intent Constitutionalist (his original intent, in fact) and he never attended Harvard or Yale Law School, like all nine justices today did. He would as well not get elected to Congress—too honest.

James Madison, the Sage of Montpelier, however, still stands tall as the chief architect of the United States Constitution, author of many of the Federalist Papers, and shaper of the Bill of Rights. He served with distinction as a four term Congressman and Secretary of State, had a rough time as our fourth President, but saw the nation through the crisis of the War of 1812. He closed out his life in 1836 at the age of 85, as the Rector of the University that he and his friend Thomas Jefferson founded.