Download or read book James Madison - the Father of the Constitution (1751 - 1836) written by J. J. Collins and published by . This book was released on 2012-09-06 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: James Madison, Jr. was an American politician and political philosopher who served as the fourth President of the United States (1809-1817) and as one of the Founding Fathers, he was part of the birth of America as a nation.Madison was a small man in stature but a giant in constitutional and historical terms in the revolutionary and post-revolutionary period of American history. Madison worked hard to help call a national convention in 1787, where he presented a thorough plan for solutions, known as the Virginia plan, which became the basis of the US Constitution of which; he was the principal author of the US Constitution and the first ten amendments to the Constitution, and is often called the Father of the Constitution. As President - Thomas Jefferson's Secretary of State (1801-1809), Madison supervised the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the nation's size, and sponsored the ill-fated Embargo Act of 1807. As the fourth President of the United States, he led the poorly prepared nation into the War of 1812 against Great Britain. The war ended with the Treaty of Ghent with many historians agreeing that Americans view the War of 1812, to be the second greatest war that ensured their independence. As the Father of Constitution, he ensured that this nation would become whole, united, and most of all, in the hands of the people. As the driving force behind the Bill of Rights, he empowered and inspired the people. Madison died at his beloved Montpelier in 1836, at age 85 however; his influence and legacy lives on through to this day.