author
James Madison
1751–1836
Best known as the "Father of the Constitution," this sharp, reserved thinker helped shape the framework of the United States and later served as its fourth president. His writing, political strategy, and deep interest in republican government still echo through American public life.
5 Audiobooks
The Journal of the Debates in the Convention which Framed the Constitution of the United States, May-September 1787. Volume 1
by United States. Constitutional Convention (1787), James Madison
The Federalist Papers
by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison
The Federalist Papers
by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison
State of the Union Addresses
by James Madison
The Journal of the Debates in the Convention which Framed the Constitution of the United States, May-September 1787. Volume 2
by United States. Constitutional Convention (1787), James Madison
About the author
Born in 1751 in Virginia, James Madison became one of the central architects of the early United States. He studied at the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, and built a reputation as a serious reader and political thinker. During the founding era, he played a major role in framing the Constitution and worked with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay on The Federalist Papers, essays that argued for its ratification.
Madison also helped secure the adoption of the Bill of Rights, a lasting part of his public legacy. He served as secretary of state under Thomas Jefferson and then as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. His presidency is often remembered for the War of 1812, a difficult conflict that tested the young nation.
After leaving office, he returned to Montpelier, his Virginia home, where he remained engaged in public questions until his death in 1836. Madison's life is closely tied to the founding of American government, though any full view of his story also includes the plantation world and enslaved labor that supported his household and estate.