President of the USA: James Madison

James Madison was the fourth President of the United States. He was born in 1751 in Virginia, the oldest of twelve children. He studied history and government at Princeton (then called the College of New Jersey). He was well read in law, which he studied because he thought it was interesting, not because he wanted to become a lawyer. He is known as the “Father of the Constitution”.

Madison started out in politics at an early age. He served in the Virginia state legislature from 1776 to 1779 and became known as a protégé of Thomas Jefferson. During this time, he helped draft the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. He served a second term in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1784 to 1786. He gained a reputation for his ability to build coalitions.

Madison was 36 when he attended the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and made a major contribution to its ratification. He felt he hadn't earned the title of "Father of the Constitution" and wrote that it was not "the offspring of a single brain, but the work of many heads and many hands”. In Congress, he helped frame the Bill of Rights and enact the first revenue legislation.

Madison served as President between 1809 and 1817. He led America into the War of 1812 to try to end British interference in American affairs. The war ended in 1815 and is often called “the Second War of American Independence”. After the war he promoted a stronger national government and signed a bill that created the Second Bank of the United States. He died at the age of 85 in 1836.