James Madison
On this day in 1751, James Madison was born on a Port Conway, Virginia plantation. He was known drafter of the Constitution, recorder of the Constitutional Convention, author of the “Federalist Papers” and fourth president of the United States. According to History.com:
Madison first distinguished himself as a student at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), where he successfully completed a four-year course of study in two years and, in 1769, helped found the American Whig Society, the second literary and debate society at Princeton (and the world), to rival the previously established Cliosophic Society.
Madison’s impact on this country extends through the centuries. As late as 1993, his 1789 amendment to the Constitution, which restricts the ability of Congress to raise its pay, caused a concern to those in Congress who were trying to freeze a cost-of-living pay raise. To freeze that increase would have meant that the cost-of-living increase over the years violated Madison’s intent. To be precise, Madison’s amendment says: “No law, varying the compensation for the services of Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.”
In a 1788 speech to the Virginia Convention on the Constitution, Madison said he believed “there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”1
The pay raise was frozen, despite the debate and Congress raises were frozen again in 1994. However, by 1999, House members voted to give themselves a $4,600 pay raise and members also moved to double the president’s salary to $400,000.
Ironically, that original article on pay raises that mentions Madison appeared on Madison’s birthday. However, his birthday never was mentioned in that article.
1. The Valley Independent (Monessen, Pennsylvania), 3 March 1993, pg. 5.
Image: Gilbert Stuart, 1755 – 1828 James Madison, c. 1821 oil on wood, 65.3 x 54.3 cm (25 11/16 x 21 3/8 in.) Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund. Stuart first portrayed James Madison when he was Jefferson’s secretary of state. The Gibbs-Coolidge likeness may have been painted from life during Madison’s two terms as president from 1809 to 1817. The deep green curtain accents the color of Madison’s eyes. See: Wikipedia.
