The Presidency of JAMES M ADISON AMERICAN PRESIDENCY SERIES Donald R. McCoy, Clifford S. Griffin, Homer E. Socolofsky General Editors George Washington, Forrest McDonald John Adams, Ralph Adams Brown Thomas Jefferson, Forrest McDonald James Madison, Robert Allen Rutland John Quincy Adams, Mary W. M. Hargreaves Andrew Jackson, Donald B. Cole Martin Van Buren, Major L. Wilson William Henry Harrison & John Tyler, Norma Lois Peterson James K. Polk, Paul H. Bergeron Zachary Taylor & Millard Fillmore, Elbert B. Smith Franklin Pierce, Larry Gara James Buchanan, Elbert B. Smith Abraham Lincoln, Phillip Shaw Paludan Andrew Johnson, Albert Castel Rutherford B. Hayes, Ari Hoogenboom James A. Garfield & Chester A. Arthur, Justus D. Doenecke Grover Cleveland, Richard E. Welch, Jr. Benjamin Harrison, Homer B. Socolofsky & Allan B. Spetter William McKinley, Lewis L. Gould Theodore Roosevelt, Lewis L. Gould William Howard Taft, Paolo E. Coletta Woodrow Wilson, Kendrick A. Clements Warren G. Harding, Eugene P. Trani & David L. Wilson Herbert C. Hoover, Martin L. Fausold Harry S. Truman, Donald R. McCoy Dwight D. Eisenhower, Chester J. Pach, Jr., & Elmo Richardson John F. Kennedy, James N. Giglio Lyndon B. Johnson, Vaughn Dayis Bomet James Earl Carter, Jr., Burton I. Kaufman The Presidency of JAMES MADISON Robert Allen Rutland UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KANSAS © 1990 by the University Press of Kansas All rights reserved Published by the University Press of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas 66049), which was organized by the Kansas Board of Regents and is operated and funded by Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Kansas State University, Pittsburg State University, the University of Kansas, and Wichita State University Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rutland, Robert Allen, 1922- The presidency of James Madison / Robert Allen Rutland, p. cm. (American presidency series) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-7006-0465-0 (alk. paper) 1. United States—Politics and government—1809-1817. 2. Madison, James, 1751-1836. 3. United States—History—War of 1812. I. Title. II. Series. E341.R87 1990 973.5T092-dc20 89-70419 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1984. To Norman A. Graebner Valued Friend, Outstanding Scholar CONTENTS Foreword ix Preface xi 1 Prologue 1 2 Storm Signals from the Senate 3 3 The Virginia Dynasty Continues 19 4 More "Splendid Misery" 51 5 A Time to Heal, a Time to Wound 71 6 The Dogs of War Unleashed 99 7 The Fuse of War Sputters 133 8 A Capital's Not for Burning 155 9 Dawn of an Era, Twilight of a Party 183 Bibliographical Essay 215 Index 225 vii FOREWORD The aim of the American Presidency Series is to present historians and the general reading public with interesting, scholarly assessments of the vari­ ous presidential administrations. These interpretive surveys are intended to cover the broad ground between biographies, specialized monographs, and journalistic accounts. As such, each will be a comprehensive, synthetic work which will draw upon the best in pertinent secondary literature, yet leave room for the authors own analysis and interpretation. Volumes in the series will present the data essential to understanding the administration under consideration. Particularly, each book will treat the then current problems facing the United States and its people and how the presi­ dent and his associates felt about, thought about, and worked to cope with these problems. Attention will be given to how the office developed and operated during the president's tenure. Equally important will be considera­ tion of the vital relationships between the president, his staff, the executive officers, Congress, foreign representatives, the judiciary, state officials, the public, political parties, the press, and influential private citizens. The series will also be concerned with how this unique American institution — the pres­ idency—was viewed by the presidents, and with what results. All this will be set, insofar as possible, in the context not only of con­ temporary politics but also of economics, international relations, law, morals, public administration, religion, and thought. Such a broad approach is neces­ sary to understanding, for a presidential administration is more than the elected and appointed officers composing it, since its work so often reflects the major problems, anxieties, and glories of the nation. In short, the au­ thors in this series will strive to recount and evaluate the record of each ad­ ministration and to identify its distinctiveness and relationships to the past, its own time, and the future. The General Editors