A Bond Like Brothers

                                    

"The interest which your friendship takes on this occasion in my happiness is a pleasing proof that the disposetions which I feel are reciprocal."-James Madison to Thomas Jefferson, April 22, 1783      

          

     Father of the Constitution, America’s First Graduate Student, The Great Legislator, Sage of Montpelier. What do all of the names have in common? They were nicknames given to James Madison, our fourth president of the United States. People knew him by many names, but the one used by his inner circle of friends, and many fellow politicians of the day, was Little Jemmy. Many believe this name was given to him by his dear friend and mentor Thomas Jefferson. Madison and Jefferson were so close that after their presidencies, they spent so much time at each other’s home that one bedroom in Monticello, Jefferson’s estate, is still called “Mr. Madison’s room.”                                                                                                  
Politically Intertwined
          When digging through Madison’s political career, even there can you find connections between Madison and Jefferson. The two men first met in October 1776, when both were members of the Virginia House of Delegates and served on the Committee on Religion. At twenty-five, Madison was eight years younger than Jefferson and admired his more experienced colleague. Several years passed before they came to know each other well. When Jefferson was inaugurated governor in 1779 while Madison served on the Governor’s Council, the two had daily discussions and became warm friends.  

     Not only did the two play huge roles in the drafting of the Constitution, but there after they served in the same presidential administration. With Jefferson securely seated in the presidential chair, Republicans began to dismantle the Federalist machinery of government in what the president termed "the Revolution of 1800," eliminating internal taxes and judicial positions and reducing the military to a bare necessity. In this new order, Madison took on the responsibility of the State Department and remained as Jefferson's right-hand man and heir-apparent through the eight years of his fellow Virginian's two-term presidency. As secretary of state, Madison was charged with a host of duties besides the conduct of American foreign policy, ranging from publishing and distributing the public laws to serving as liaison between the federal government and the governors of the states and territories. In the realm of foreign policy, he handled correspondence from five ministers and over fifty consuls.

     Madison wanted to sit where his dear friend had set for eight long years. After Jefferson left office Madison ran for the highest office in the land, and won. During his presidency Madison was instrumental in seeing the borders of our nation expanded with the admission of Louisiana in 1812 to the Union and four years later with Indiana. He also spearheaded the War of 1812, after the failure of diplomatic protests and a trade embargo against Britain. But sooner than later he helped draft and sign the Treaty of Ghent with Britain after British troops burned Washington D.C. to the ground. 

                                                                                                                                      

Neighboring Estates

     Madison and Jefferson were both residents of Virginia. In fact, Montpelier and Monticello are not that far from each other and to me, are similar in many ways. In 1797 James Madison, Jr. and his wife Dolley moved to Montpelier and began making changes and building additions, with the advice of Thomas Jefferson. Madison added a wing to the northeast end of the house, as well as a portico on the front. In 1809-1812, Madison made further additions to the house, again with the architectural advice of Jefferson and also with the help of two of Jefferson’s builders, James Dinsmore and John Neilson.

Words of Their Own     

     James Madison and Thomas Jefferson will always be known as “BFFs.” From the time of our nation’s birth until they both died, they held a bond of friendship. From their similar views on politics to their similar preferences of architecture to their interest in horticulture, Madison and Jefferson were as close as any blood-related brothers.

     A few months before Jefferson died, he wrote to Madison, “The friendship which has subsisted between us, now half a century, and the harmony of our political principles and pursuits, have been sources of constant happiness to me through that long period.” Jefferson also entrusted his posthumous reputation to Madison, closing, “Take care of me when dead, and be assured that I shall leave you with my last affections.” 

     Madison paid tribute to his friend shortly after Jefferson’s death:  “He lives and will live in the memory and gratitude of the wise and good, as a luminary of science, as a votary or liberty, as a model of patriotism, and as a benefactor of human kind. In these characters, I have known him, and not less in the virtues and charms of social life, for a period of fifty years, during which there was not an interruption or diminution of mutual confidence and cordial friendship, for a single moment in a single instance.” 

    When Madison left office, the country was prospering. He is arguably the real architect of America’s founding ideals. Because of Madison we have the system of checks and balances, modern judicial review, and the Bill of Rights and all the while he was able to maintain a bond of friendship. Any president would tell you that's hard to do and be the leader of the free world. That’s the legacy of James Madison.