Madison: The first environmentalist.

Each president clearly expressed different passions for their gardens and nature. Washington seemed to favor his gardens for pleasure and relaxation, while Jefferson seemed to care about the studying the environment and experimenting with botany. Madison, however, seemed to have more of a passion for nature, combining both pleasure and science. Madison had a deep passion for nature and the environment.

At Montpelier, Madison's genuine interest in the well-being of the environment would shine through in the landscape and home he created. Montpelier was surrounded by vast forests. The grounds of the estate were described to blend seamlessly into the wilderness. Madison incorporated flowers and blooms in the immediate gardens around his mansion, but the large lawn between the home and the forest he only placed large trees, allowing his property to grow wilder as it reached the wild forests.

 In an 1818 speech delivered to the Agricultural Society of Albemarle, Madison expressed his concerns of the rapidly developing new world and warned that America could not continue to cut the forests at such a rapid rate. Like Jefferson, Madison understood how harmful the vast tobacco farms were to the soil and knew that something needed to be done. Madison was most accurately the first environmentalist  seeing the need to protect the environment and nature that he loved so much. He seemed to genuinely relish in nature, flourishing personally not only among his gardens, but in the midst of nature.