James Madison

1751 – 1836

James Madison was an American statesman who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817 and is remembered as "Father of the Constitution" for his pivotal role in drafting the document and the Bill of Rights. He was a lifelong slaveholder who personally enslaved more than 100 people on his Montpelier estate and authored the Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted enslaved people as three-fifths of a person for purposes of congressional apportionment. As president he led the United States into the disastrously prosecuted War of 1812, during which the British army burned the U.S. Capitol and the White House to the ground.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM