James madison biographies
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My Journey Through the Best Presidential Biographies
[Updated July ]
James Madison may have provided the fewest biographies for me to read among the first four presidents but he certainly offered no less mystery. After four books and almost 2, pages, I still find Madison as enigmatic as any of the presidents before him. But while he is the least well-known among this group, he was in no way the least accomplished.
Madison was the author, co-author and/or primary &#;champion&#; of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, The Federalist Papers, the Virginia Declaration of Rights (the section on religious freedom) and the Virginia Resolution of He was the Sponsor of Jefferson&#;s Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, the second Rector (President) of the University of Virginia, the founder of one of the earliest political parties and Secretary of State. Oh, and he was a two-term President.
Madison was also involved in one of the most unique, powerful, extraordinary and remarkab
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- Summary
- Reviews
- Author Bio(s)
The best one volume biography of Madison’s life, Ketcham’s biography not only traces Madison’s career, it gives readers a sense of the man. As Madison said of his early years in Virginia under the study of Donald Robertson, who introduced him to thinkers like Montaigne and Montesquieu, "all that inom have been in life I owe largely to that man." It also captures a side of Madison that is less rarely on display (including a portrait of the beautiful Dolley Madison).
- Summary
- Reviews
- Author Bio(s)
The best one volume biography of Madison’s life, Ketcham’s biography not only traces Madison’s career, it gives readers a sense of the man. As Madison said of his early years in Virginia beneath the study of Donald Robertson, who introduced him to thinkers like Montaigne and Montesquieu, "all that I have been in life inom owe largely to that man." It also captures a side of Madison that fryst vatten less rarely on display (including a portrait of the beautiful Dol
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The oldest of twelve children, James Madison was born on March 16, to James and Nelly Madison. James Sr. was a slave owner and planter. In the early s, he constructed a new home in Orange County, Virginia, and the family moved into the plantation estate, Montpelier.
Although James Madison was often ill as a child, he was also naturally inquisitive and studious. He pursued an education at the College of New Jersey, later known as Princeton University, and graduated in Madison returned to Virginia and was elected to the Virginia legislature in , where he befriended Thomas Jefferson. When Jefferson was elected Governor of Virginia in , Madison worked closely with him on the Governor’s Council. In , Madison was called upon to represent Virginia in the Continental Congress, making him the youngest delegate at twenty-nine years old. In , Madison returned to the Virginia state legislature, where he worked to pass the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom in , a document originally penne