James Madison, The Father of the Constitution. The shortest President. He served two terms, serving from March 4th 1809 to March 4th 1817.
While others on the list who had many accomplishments before their presidency, such as military accomplishments, (Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower), and those accomplishments were not factored into their listing, Madison and his accomplishments were. Because without him there would be no Constitution and no federal government.
You may think its not really fair to take into account his accomplishments before his presidency, and count those as reasons why. But to be perfectly fair, Theodore Roosevelt and Eisenhower’s accomplishments that made them famous were military achievements. James Madison and his achievements were political.
As stated, one of the main reasons he is on this list, is because he is known as the Father of the Constitution. Madison, Alexander Hamilton and George Washington, all strong nationalists, feared that the Articles of Confederation was too weak to be the main basis for the young country. Their fears were entirely accurate and so Madison was charged with coming up with a new written law to establish a new government.
Another reason the James Madison is on this list is the fact that he got us through the War of 1812. Unlike some presidents, he attempted to get us out of the war diplomatically, and tried to avoid the war altogether. This second war with Great Britain and the subsequent victory resulted in Great Britain recognizing the United States as a legitimate country, and the Monroe Doctrine further established this fact.
He and The First Lady survived the Burning of the Capitol and the First Lady even saved the prized painting and probably the most well known painting of George Washington.
He was also the president at the beginning of the Era of Good Feeling which ended under Monroe.
Although it seems unfair that Madison made this list because of his actions before becoming president and Eisenhower and Roosevelt were on this list because of their actions during their presidency and not included because of their actions before the war seems unfair. However, if I were doing a list based off my favorite presidents because of what they did before the war, Grant would have made this list for all that he did during the Civil War. And Grant consistently ranks towards the bottom of the list as far as presidents go for their accomplishments and success during office.
Madison made this list because of what he did before and during his time in office. Keep in mind that he is not always a lock at my #4 spot but he deserves to be in the top 10 and currently I think he deserves a spot in my top 5.
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