About James Madison

Fabulous Websites which discuss the life and legacy of James Madison and provide resources for further study:

James Madison University:

Books read about James Madison:

  • Junior/Senior in highschool – The Great Little Madison by Jean Fritz* (reread in spring 2010)
  • Junior/Senior in highschool – James Madison: The Founding Father by Robert A. Rutland* (reread in summer 2010)
  • Junior/Senior in highschool – James Madison and the Creation of the American Nation by Jack Rakove*
  • Junior/Senior in highschool – James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights by Richard Labunski*
  • Junior/Senior in highschool – James Madison by Garry Wills*
  • Junior/Senior in highschool – James Madison by Alfred Steinberg
  • Summer of 2008 – Montpelier and the Madisons by Matthew Hyland*
  • Summer of 2008 – The Fourth President: A Life of James Madison by Irving Brant
  • Freshman in college/Fall 2008 – James Madison and the Search for Nationhood by Robert A. Rutland*
  • Freshman in college/Fall 2008 – James Madison by Sydney Howard Gay
  • Freshman in college/Fall 2008 – James Madison by Harold S. Schultz
  • Freshman in college/Fall 2008 – The Life of James Madison by Gaillard Hunt
  • Freshman in college/Fall 2008 – James Madison’s Advice to My Country by David B. Mattern*
  • Freshman in college/Fall 2008 – James Madison on Religious Liberty by Robert S. Alley
  • Freshman in college/Winter of 2008 – James Madison: A Biography by Ralph Ketcham (annotated)*
  • Freshman in college/Spring 2009 – (read all 8 volumes of The Spectator and wrote play about James Madison and Religious Liberty– looked through The Papers of JM Vol. 1 – 12, mainly 1, 8, 10 and 11, and various JM books, such as those above and below).
  • Freshman in college/Spring 2009 – Liberty and Learning: The Essential James Madison by Philip Bigler*
  • Summer 2009 – The Presidency of James Madison by Robert A. Rutland*
  • Summer 2009 – From Parchment to Power by Robert A. Goldwin
  • Summer 2009 – The Sacred Fire of Liberty by Lance Banning*
  • Summer 2009 – The Madisons at Montpelier: Reflections on the Founding Couple by Ralph Ketcham*
  • Sophomore in college/Fall 2009 – The Madisons: A Biography by Virginia Moore* (reread in summer 2010)
  • Sophomore in college/Spring 2010– The Political Philosophy of James Madison by Garrett Sheldon*
  • Sophomore in college/Spring 2010 – Dolley Madison Program DVD by PBS*
  • Summer 2010 – James Madison and the Future of Limited Government by John Samples*
  • JMU student/Fall 2010 – The Education of James Madison: A Model for Today by Mary-Elaine Swanson*
  • JMU student/Fall 2010 – Madison’s ‘Advice to my Country’ by Adrienne Koch
  • JMU student/Fall 2010 – The Republic in Peril: 1812 by Roger H. Brown
  • JMU student/Fall 2010 – James Madison: The Theory and Practice of Republican Government by Samuel Kernell
  • JMU student/Fall 2010 – James Madison: Builder by Abbot E. Smith
  • Summer 2011 – Madison and Jefferson by Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg*
  • JMU student/Fall 2011 – James Madison by Richard Brookhiser*
  • (2012-2013 spent primarily interpreting Madison, then pausing studies to pursue theatre)
  • Summer 2014 – James Madison: A Life Reconsidered by Lynne Cheney*
  • Fall 2014 – James Madison and the Making of America by Kevin R. C. Gutzman*

Books read about Dolley Madison:

  • Junior/Senior in highschool – Dolley Madison: Her Life and Times by Katharine Anthony*
  • Junior/Senior in highschool – The Velvet Glove: A Life of Dolley Madison by Noel Gerson
  • Freshman in college/Fall 2008 – A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation by Catherine Allgor*

Historical fiction novels read:

  • Junior/Senior in highschool – Treason by David Nevin*
  • Junior/Senior in highschool – 1812 by David Nevin*
  • Junior/Senior in highschool – Eagles Cry by David Nevin*
  • Junior/Senior in highschool – Dolley: in Love and War by Rita Mae Brown*
  • Summer 2010 – Patriot Hearts: A Novel of the Founding Mothers by Barbara Hambly
  • JMU student/Spring 2010 – Tempest at Dawn by James Best*
  • JMU student/Spring 2010 – Queen Dolley by Dorothy Clarke Wilson*

Resources frequently studied:

  • James Madison: A Biography in His Own Words (2 Vol.) by Merrill D. Peterson*
  • James Madison and the American Nation, 1751-1836: An Encyclopedia by Robert A. Rutland*
  • Encyclopedia of the War of 1812 by David S. Heidler*
  • James Madison: Writings by Jack Rakove*
  • The Mind of the Founder: Sources of the Political Thought of James Madison by Marvin Meyers*
  • The Complete Madison by Padover*
  • Selected Writings of James Madison by Ralph Ketcham*
  • The Republic of Letters: Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison (3 Vol.) by Smith

Books on James Madison yet to read:

  • The Last of the Fathers: James Madison and the Republican Legacy by Drew McCoy*
  • Founding Friendship: George Washington, James Madison, and the Creation of the American Republic by Stuart Leibiger*
  • Jefferson and Madison: Three Conversations from the Founding by Lance Banning*
  • American Compact: James Madison and the Problem of Founding by Gary Rosen*
  • Dolley Madison by Jeanette Nolan*
  • Presidents Above Party: The First American Presidency, 1789-1829 by Ralph Ketcham*
  • The Idea of Democracy in the Modern Era by Ralph Ketcham*
  • Mr. and Mrs. Madison’s War: America’s First Couple and the Second War of Independence by Hugh Howard*
  • James and Dolley Madison: America’s First Power Couple by Bruce Chadwick*
  • The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President by Noah Feldman*
  • James Madison: The Father of Religious Liberty by Rodney K. Smith
  • Dolley and James Madison: An Unlikely Love Story That Saved America by Rodney K. Smith
  • The Life of James Madison: Illustrated by Gaillard Hunt
  • The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789 by Joseph J. Ellis
  • The Price of Greatness: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and the Creation of American Oligarchy by Jay Cost
  • The Virginia Dynasty: Four Presidents and the Creation of the American Nation by Lynne Cheney
  • Madison’s Gift: Five Partnerships That Built America by David Stewart*
*=books I own

Known paintings of James Madison:

1783 young Madison painting (Kitty Floyd)DSC_11872

1792 Madison painting (Founding Father) Charles Wilson Peale

1794-97 Madison painting (white bow, married to Dolley) James Sharples

1804 Madison painting (Secretary of State, mirrored to Dolley) Gilbert Stuart

1807 Madison painting (Secretary of State, mirrored to Jefferson) Gilbert Stuart

1809 Madison painting (full body, dressed in black, President) Thomas Sully

1816 Madison painting (President, Montpelier theme) John Vanderlyn

1817 Madison painting (“his likeness breathes”, folded hands) Joseph Wood

1821 elder Madison (after Presidency) Gilbert Stuart

1829-30 old Madison painting (for nullification) Chester Harding

1833 old Madison (Retirement, sunken face) Asher Durand

1833 old Madison (cap on head) J.B Longacre