James Madison is remembered as "the Father of the Constitution." He helped arrange the convention of 1787 at which the Constitution was written. He was a leading promoter and defender of the document during the ratification process, when it had to be formally approved by nine of the thirteen states in order to go into effect. He championed the first ten amendments that form the Bill of Rights (see James Madison primary source entry in volume 1).
Madison's efforts with the Constitution reflected his particular strengths. Skillful in debate and level-headed, he was able to balance ideals and realities, conviction and compromise. Standing just five feet, four inches tall and weighing around 100 pounds, he was the smallest of all U.S. presidents. Small in stature but large in character, he helped find practical ways to establish a republican form of government that represented the will of the people and could.....
This is a free excerpt of 150 words. This section contains 3,310 words. This
article contains 10,078 words (approx. 34 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Article with our President James Madison Access Pass.
