詹姆斯·麦迪逊

James Madison

At his inauguration, James Madison, a small, wizened man, appeared old and worn; Washington Irving described him as "but a withered little apple-John." But whatever his deficiencies in charm, Madison's buxom wife Dolley compensated for them with her warmth and gaiety. She was the toast of Washington.

Born in 1751, Madison was brought up in Orange County, Virginia, and attended Princeton (then called the College of New Jersey). A student of history and government, well-read in law, he participated in the framing of the Virginia Constitution in 1776, served in the Continental Congress, and was a leader in the Virginia Assembly.

詹姆斯·麦迪逊

在他的就任演讲里，长得瘦小枯干的詹姆斯·麦迪逊，看上去老态龙钟，萎靡不振；华盛顿·欧文说他“不过是个小干瘪苹果。”但是他所缺乏的魅力，都由他的体态丰满的妻子Dolley以她的热情和欢快弥补了。她是华盛顿最受推崇的人。

麦迪逊生于1751年，在弗吉尼亚州的Orange县长大，就读于普林斯顿大学（当时叫新泽西学院）。他专攻历史和行政，深谙法律，在1776年参加了弗吉尼亚宪法的起草，他是大陆议会的成员，也是弗吉尼亚议会的议长。

When delegates to the Constitutional Convention assembled at Philadelphia, the 36-year-old Madison took frequent and emphatic part in the debates.

Madison made a major contribution to the ratification of the Constitution by writing, with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, the Federalist essays. In later years, when he was referred to as the "Father of the Constitution," Madison protested that the document was not "the

off-spring of a single brain," but "the work of many heads and many hands."

In Congress, he helped frame the Bill of Rights and enact the first revenue legislation. Out of his leadership in opposition to Hamilton's financial proposals, which he felt would unduly bestow wealth and power upon northern financiers, came the development of the Republican, or Jeffersonian, Party.

当参加制宪会议的代表们齐聚费城时，36岁的麦迪逊成了辩论中频繁出场、斩钉截铁的人物。

麦迪逊对宪法得到批准的主要贡献是与亚历山大·汉密尔顿和约翰·杰伊发表了联邦党人文集。在后来的几年里，当人们称他为“宪法之父”时，麦迪逊不满意地说宪法不是“某个人的设想，”而是“出自很多人的思考和辛劳。”

在国会，他推动了权利法案的起草和首部税收立法的颁布。他领导的反对他认为是汉密尔顿给北方金融家们不正当财富和权力金融提案，带来了共和党或杰弗逊派的发展。

As President Jefferson's Secretary of State, Madison protested to warring France and Britain that their seizure of American ships was contrary to international law. The protests, John Randolph acidly commented, had the effect of "a shilling pamphlet hurled against eight hundred ships of war."

Despite the unpopular Embargo Act of 1807, which did not make the belligerent nations change their ways but did cause a depression in the United States, Madison was elected President in 1808. Before he took office the Embargo Act was repealed.

During the first year of Madison's Administration, the United States prohibited trade with both Britain and France; then in May, 1810, Congress authorized trade with both, directing the President, if either would accept America's view of neutral rights, to forbid trade with the other nation.

作为杰弗逊总统的国务卿，他抗议交战中的英法两国扣押美国船只违反国际法。这些抗议，正如约翰·鲁道夫的尖刻评论，有四两拨千斤的力量，是“一本一先令的小册子击退了八百艘军舰。”

尽管1807年的没有改变这个好战民族的路线反而造成美国萧条的禁运法案颇受微词，麦迪逊还是在1808年当选美国总统。在他就任前禁运法案遭到抗诉。