PERIODIC PRESIDENTS on BOBBLEHEAD GEORGE

James  Madison may have been small in stature...but he made up for it with his enormous IQ...famously authoring the Virginia Plan...garnering him the nickname “Father of the Constitution” and the Bill of Rights.   He served as one of Virginia’s delegates to the Confederation Congress,  a member of the United States House of Representatives, and Secretary of State for President Jefferson.  All this before winning the election of 1808 and becoming our 4th president.

 

At the end of his second term, Jefferson followed the precedent established by Washington and did not seek a third term.  He then hand-selected his successor, James Madison.  Jefferson had lost popularity because of his trade embargo with Britain and France.  A Democratic-Republican victory was far from certain.

In the end, Madison won by a large margin, and the “Father of the Constitution” became the leader of our union.

 

The onset of the War of 1812 was just days apart from the beginning of the election of 1812.  Madison’s popularity had been fluctuating for much of the recent years.  The Federalists, in an attempt to unseat the incumbent, changed their platform to include as many different perspectives and opinions as possible.  The strategy failed and Madison won his second term by a large margin.

 

Like Washington and Jefferson before him...Madison stepped down from the presidency after two terms and retired to his Virginia home, Montpelier, with his wife, Dolley Madison.  James Madison passed away in his home on June 28, 1836.  He was 85 years old.