At 5 feet 4 inches, Madison was America’s shortest Commander-in-Chief but he left behind a towering legacy. Here are some lesser-known details about the “Father of the U.S. Constitution” and the colorful life he led.
1. James Madison was prone to sickness.
Madison wasn’t the healthiest kid or adult for that matter. A frequent victim of nasty stomach aches, he’d also weather attacks “somewhat resembling epilepsy” throughout his life.
2. James Madison fought and won an oratory duel with Patrick Henry.
This was no small feat. Throughout their home state of Virginia, Patrick Henry was renowned as a public speaking heavyweight who wooed crowds wherever he went. Thomas Jefferson declared that the booming debater spoke “as Homer wrote.” Madison, in contrast, had a quiet voice and little talent for theatrics.
In saying all of that, the contradictions inherent in its history, its sectional and racial fault-lines, and entropic constitutional architecture mean that any rose-tinted affection is tempered by experience and a heavy dose of realism. Back in 1998, while in Columbus, Ohio, I watched Bill Clinton fess up about his mad dalliance with Monica. He cut a lonely figure that weekend, skulking round the White House lawn with only his retriever Chappaqua for company. Clinton’s was a tumultuous presidency. A chaotic transition, a prolonged battle to pass an economic plan, Hillary’s failed health care reform, Newt Gingrich’s ‘Contract with America, a shelling at the ’94 mid-terms, the Oklahoma Bombing, re-election and finally impeachment.