Show FIVE MINUTE WATS CHATS ABOUT OUR presidents by JAMES MORGAN JAMES MADISON 1751 march 16 james madi son born at port conway va 1772 graduated at princeton 1776 in virginia legislature 1780 3 1783 1785 8 in Conti continental congress 1787 in constitutional convention 1789 97 in congress 1794 married dorothy todd payne 1801 8 secretary of state S JAMES MADISON made a great adame AS name tor for himself before entering the presidency pre sideney and added nothing to it while h in the white house it must be that he was a good deal of a man but not much of a president like all he more famous virginians madison was as not of the highest aristocracy but the sou son of a plain well to do farmer in an outlying county ills his early life was passed at montpelier the farm which his grandfather had wrested from the indians from it he drew his only private income and at last lie he was burled buried in its soil ile he dependent on ills his father until he was fifty efty when the latter died and the place became ills bis own with slaves who continued always to address him blin simply as master jimmy standing only five feet six inches nud one quarter inches lie he was with grant the smallest of our presidents 4 dolly madison naturally thin and frail his zeal for study nearly wrecked his health while a student at princeton college where for months at a time he slept only three hours out of the 24 unfitted for military duty when the revolution came he went to the virginia legislature instead yet this seemingly broken down young man was destined lo fo be the longest lived of all the diesl bents with gitil the single exception ot of john adada 1 when a candidate for reelection election re to the legislature madison revolted against the old virginia custom of setting up the drinks nis his morality was mistaken for stinginess arid and the thirsty voters flocked to the alie capacious barrel of his opponent who was elected the defeated candidate had to wait unit a dozen years for ills his first chance to distinguish himself still no time was lost for while lie he was walting waiting he diligently prepared pi spared to meet opportunity when wh ei it il t should j come and made a close CIO ze study of all governments ancient a and n d modern amodei r it if madison had not been crossed and blessed in love posterity might not catch him on his human side at all and only yawn over this prosy serious studious cool tempered little great tuan loan lie he was already a mature bachelor of thirty two and a member of the continental congress when a sixteen year old girl in his philadelphia boarding house was the first to touch ft a soft spot in his heart A young clergyman who hung and sighed over her cut him out and he was painfully awakened from his first dream of love by a letter of dismissal madison ws past forty and well into his indian bummer when lie he became involved in still another boarding house romance at Philadel philadelphia phill only hi instead of a lady boarder lie he fell in love this time with a land ladys daughter dolly payne payee todd who was only twenty six had lost fort her I 1 husband hubband and was living with her mothr vir who received into her house a few gentlemen boarders among theta them was senator aaron burr of new york madison himself was staying at an other house where lie he itna two other future presidents jefferson and monroe SI onroe were living three in a room there the fame of the pretty young traveled to him and he asked burr they were at princeton together to take him to see her the match flamed up in the flash of an eyt eye and dolly and iier her boy were borne away to 10 montpelier where she proved her tactfulness tactful nesa an and d kindliness by dwelling in peace under the same roof with her mother in law thirty tive years kyea rs |