James Madison

James Madison was the fourth President of the United States of America and one of the founding fathers. Born in 1751 in Virginia, Madison was the son of a tobacco plantation owner. He became the largest landowner in Orange County Virginia and owned many slaves. His family house on the plantation, Montpelier, is still open today. 

Madison is known as the 'father of the constitution' because of his important role as the author of the Bill of rights, which was the first ten amendments to the constitution. Madison also helped to draft the constitution and ratify it. Madison did not sign the declaration of independence but is still seen as a founding father because of his work with the constitution.

Madison was the secretary of state under Thomas Jefferson at the time of the Louisiana purchase and, although it went against his and Jefferson's strict construction ideas about the constitution, they both went for the opportunity to get so much land and had it ratified in the senate. Madison was also involved in the famous case Marbury v. Madison which resulted in the supreme court getting the power to declare laws unconstitutional through the power of judicial review, which is effectively another check on the power of government. Later during his time as president the war of 1812 broke out and though he was unpopular for a point during the war, when the British pulled out it greatly boosted public opinion for Madison and started a decade of national pride and happiness which would later be known as the 'era of good feelings'.

James Madison never had any children and married late at the age of 42 to a widow. He died in 1836 at the age of 85, greatly outliving the life expectancy for the time.