Emily+-+JMadison

James Madison (1751-1836) Democratic-Republican Terms: 1809-1817 Vice Presidents: George Clinton, Elbridge Gerry; both died in office James Madison was not the best president. However he was not the worst. Madison was a distinguished legislator, nicknamed the “Father of the Constitution”, but he fell short as President. Foreign policy, mainly the economy and trade leading to the War of 1812 was the reason Madison earned a C as president. Because of the problems he was left to deal with, fixing our foreign policy while trying to keep the nation together didn’t necessarily leave much room for Madison to be doing much else which is why he really didn’t achieve many of the goals he probably had going into his presidency. James Madison also was stuck with a lot of the blame for what Congress was passing, even though he didn’t have much support that would have influenced them to favor his legislation plans. A great example of this would be Macon’s Bill No. 2. which was trying to lure Britain or France back into good trade with America but in actuality it hurt American trade more than anything. The ending of the War of 1812 was the best thing that happened during Madison’s presidency. Afterwards, other nations had more respect for the Americans, large amounts of land were gained from the Indians, and a new nationalistic spirit emerged. The worst part of his presidency was the disunity during the war; how the North wanted to separate from the union or to have separate peace decisions with Britain, their main trader, as well as proposing constitutional amendments. The passing of the tariff of 1816 influenced the future presidencies because it was built upon and was a major issue later on… tariff of abominations in 1828. These tariffs were one of the main problems that the south had with the other states that led to their wanting to leave the union later in the civil war. The country really couldn’t have been much better off at the end of Madison’s presidency because even though the country may have felt good after the war it racked up large war debts that the country would have to pay for- all for a war that really kept things the way they were. Madison deserves a C for his presidency because he was just sort of average-not great, not terrible. "Foreign Affairs." __Travel & History__. U-S-History.com. 25 Sept. 2008 . "Secession Crisis." __The Hartford Convention__. 25 Sept. 2008 . "The Treaty of Ghent." __Events and Locations__. 25 Sept. 2008 .