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March 16, 1751 - June 28, 1836
 * __James Madison__**

Political Party: Democratic-Republican

Terms of Office: March 4, 1809 – March 4, 1817

Vice President: George Clinton (1809-1812: died in office) and Elbridge Gerry (1813-1814: died in office)

A man we know as the "Father of the Constitution" stepped into his role as the fourth president of the United States after occupying the position of Secretary of State under Thomas Jefferson. He came with some political experience and in turn left his footprint on American history. He should be given a grade of C because of his decision to enter war with Britain in 1812 which had both a positive and negative influence on the nation.

Madison's goals for his presidency were to maintain foreign affairs with Britan and France. As the Secretary of State for Thomas Jefferson he supported the Louisiana Purchase and Embargo Act. The latter was passed in response to the constant harassment of American ships and impressment of American sailors by the two foreign nations. Before Madison assumed office, Congress passed the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809, which replaced the Embargo Act. It allowed the resumption of world trade with the exclusion of Britain and France. If one of the two removed its own restrictions against American trade, Madison was enpowered to remove restrictions against that country, leaving those in place against the other. Neither replied and thus Macon's Bill No. 2 was passed. This complicated things more by removing all restrictions on American trade including the ones against France and Britain. After one of the nations repealed its own restrictions against America, the President was to reimpose restrictions on the other if they did not follow suit. This time France heard the call and accepted the terms. Britain was then made into an enemy. They continued to seize American ships because France had not lifted their personal restrictions on British trade. It was a very complicated time which eventually led to the War of 1812. Each new law was in response to the ineffectiveness of the previous one. It can be said that Madison's efforts to maintain neutrality in the French-English conflict were ineffective. Britain was ready for war.

James Madison had a relatively good relationship with Congress. This can be derived from the majority parties in both the House of Representatives and Senate. It was of course the Democratic-Republican party. Throughout his entire presidency the Federalists never took that spot. They never held more than 31% of the membership through 4 years. He made 5 vetoes during his career and an additional two pocket vetoes. Two of the five were related to religion and vetoed in the same month of the same year. In February of 1811, Madison vetoed the two on the ground that they violated the Establishment Clause. It refers to the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the Constitution which states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establisment of religion". Madison managed to get a number of laws passed through Congress including a bill to continue the Bank of the United States. Its original charter was scheduled to expire in 1812. Though met with stiff opposition, the Second Bank of the United States was created in 1816. It was due largely in part by the financial problems that were a result of the war. It is important to understand that Madison never commanded dominance over Congress. Their were no major problems between the president and his legislature. However, he was never more than a man who passed laws thinking to benefit his country. Madison was not a strong, outspoken force.

Madison and his administration did not make many decisions that actually were of benefit for the nation. However, going to war with Britain was an action that surprisingly had a positive influence on the country afterwards. Congress began military preparations after Britain had refused to comply. A list of complaints against them included the continued impressment of American sailors and the arming of Indians who had attacked settlers. It seemed that a mass conflict was inevitable. On June 18, 1812, Congress declared war on Britain. This war, to Madison and those who advocated the war, was another fight for independence. They had the chance to seize Canada, drive the Spanish from West Florida, put down the Indian uprising in the northwest, and secure maritime independence. In the preparations for battle, it became clear that the "warhawks" wanted an invasion of Canada above anything else. Madison moved quickly to mount an offensive against Canada. This move ended in disaster though. By the fall of 1812, an American force had surrendered at Detroit, another defeated at New York, and another did not even manage to cross the Niagra River. In a few months, much of the Northwest Territory had fallen to the British. Two years dragged by and the British still had the upper hand. They decided to take on an offensive approach and it led them to Washington D.C. They set torch to the White House and basically uprooted the seat of the government. Next their eyes turned toward New Orleans, hoping to use the city as a bargaining chip in the peace negotiations that were undoubtedly going to come. General Andrew Jackson was the man in charge of defending the citry from the British. On January 8, his army managed to kill 2,000 Redcoats in a matter of minutes when they charged across an open field just below the city. Those that survived simply dropped their weapons and ran away. In that most notable triumph of General Jackson, only 70 Americans died. This was the final major battle of the war. Unknown to those in New Orleans, a peace treaty had been signed across the Atlantic two weeks before. The Treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812 and was unanimously approved by Senate and James Madison. Though the war was largely a negative move by Madison, it had its share of positive outcomes. Number one being an upsurge of nationalism and sense of unity that swept across the United States. They had finally secured solid independece from Britain. The Federalist party collapsed and eventually disappeared from politics. New England Federalists had threatened to secede from the Union and Madison handled them well. America was also given 10 million acres of land back from the British as a result of the treaty. The Indian problem had also dissolved. Due to Madison's decision to enter the war, an Era of Good Feeling emerged.

The War of 1812, including Macon's Bill No. 2, was Madison's worst decision as well. Thousands of Americans died in the war and neither side had won a clear-cut victory. The Treaty of Ghent restored relations between the nations to status quo ante bellum. This means that neither country had gained or lost much of anything. Many have questioned the decision to enter the war and that can be understood. When Macon's Bill No. 2 was passed, Madison was driving down the path toward war. The deal was sealed when Madison came to agree with Napolean, the French emperor. He did not personally believe that the man would hold up his end and this was true. Britain was to repeal its own restrictions but stood characteristicly still. Madison made a brash decision and was rewarded with a new conflict. It was the spark that would ignite the fuse.

Madison entering the war also had the most influence on future generations. He proved to the British the folly of fighting wars with the Americans and gained secure independence for his country. His task was enormous and though it was not perfect in any sense, he managed to pull it off. The Americans and British have not fought each other since the treaty was passed. The War of 1812 left a very deep footprint on history and it will not fade away.

James Madison was a good president caught in the wrong time. One can think that if he was elected in another time, when tensions between foreign countires were not so high, his presidency would have been different. Madison had to make some decisions that called for haste. He adressed the immediate demands of crisis and national needs of the moment. He handled the war poorly but in the end neither side had won. He deserves the grade of a C because his presidency did not have that much of a positive impact on the nation. The War of 1812 was the most significant event to take place in his term and thus everything else seems to shrink in importance. James Madison belonged to a different era but unfortunately was not given that opportunity. An average president at the time, Madison could have been one of the greatest.


 * Bibliography:**

"American President: James Madison." __Miller Center of Public Affairs__. 23 Sep. 2009 .

"Biography of James Madison ." __Welcome to the White House__. 23 Sep. 2009 .

"James Madison - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__. 23 Sep. 2009 .

"List of United States presidential vetoes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__. 23 Sep. 2009 .

"Party divisions of United States Congresses - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__. 23 Sep. 2009 .

"Results of the War of 1812 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__. 23 Sep. 2009 .

"Treaty of Ghent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__. 23 Sep. 2009 .