什麼是麥迪遜

Madison, James

美國第四任總統（1809～1817）。1776～1780和1784～1786年間任職於美國國會。1787年在美國製憲會議上他積極參與，並對爭論的議題詳細記錄，爲他贏得「憲法之父」的美名。爲了促使法案通過，他與漢彌爾頓和傑伊合作編寫了《聯邦黨人》論文。1789～1797年在美國衆議院任職期間，他支持「人權法案」，成爲傑佛遜共和黨黨員的領袖，並因籌募戰時公債問題而與漢彌爾頓意見不和。爲了抗議「客籍法和鎮壓叛亂法」，他在1798年起草了「維吉尼亞和肯塔基決議」之一。1801～1809年被傑佛遜指派爲國務卿，兩人合作拓展了美國的外交政策。1808年當選總統以後，忙於處理與英、法之間因貿易和船運通商問題，後來還是引爆了1812年戰爭。他在1812年連任，第二個任期以戰爭爲主，在此期間他重建了美國軍隊，也贊成覈准美國銀行第二次的營業執照，並頒佈美國第一個保護關稅措施。退休後與頗具政治智慧的妻子朵利（Dolley, 1768～1849）回到維吉尼亞州蒙皮立的莊園，繼續撰寫文章和信件，並擔任維吉尼亞大學的校長（1826～1836）。

1751～1836年

Madison, James

Fourth president of the U.S. (1809-17). Born in Port Conway, Va., he served in the state legislature (1776-80, 1784-86). At the Constitutional Convention (1787), his active participation and his careful notes on the debates earned him the title “father of the Constitution.” To promote ratification, he collaborated with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay on The Federalist. In the U.S. House of Representatives (1789-97), he sponsored the Bill of Rights, was a leading Jeffersonian Republican, and split with Hamilton over funding state war debts. In reaction to the Alien and Sedition Acts, he drafted one of the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions (1798). He was appointed secretary of state (1801-9) by Thomas Jefferson, with whom he developed U.S. foreign policy. Elected president in 1808, he was occupied by the trade and shipping embargo problems caused by France and Britain that led to the War of 1812. He was reelected in 1812; his second term was marked principally by the war, during which he reinvigorated the U.S. Army, and also saw approval of the charter of the Second Bank of the U.S. and the first U.S. protective tariff. He retired to his Virginia estate, Montpelier, with his wife, Dolley (1768-1849), whose political acumen he had long prized. He continued to write articles and letters and served as rector of the University of Virginia (1826-36).