(b. March 16, 1751; d. June 28, 1836) Father of the U.S. Constitution, coauthor of The Federalist, draftsman of the Bill of Rights, and fourth President of the United States (1809–1817).

James Madison was centrally concerned, throughout his public life, with war or the prospect of war. He became a member of the Continental Congress in December 1779, perhaps the darkest moment of the Revolutionary War, and rose to be regarded as the most effective member of that body. He helped secure approval of the Articles of Confederation, struggled constantly with the financial problems facing the union, and supported proposals for a set of independent federal taxes. After 1783, he returned to the Virginia legislature's lower house and came to be committed to elemental changes in the structure of the new republic. This commitment to reform led to the drafting of the Constitution.

Madison believed that the continental union was not just...