Bruce Chadwick - James and Dolley Madison: Americas First Power Couple

BRUCE CHADWICK is the author of twenty-eight books, most recently Lincoln for President and I Am Murdered. He is professor of history and journalism at New Jersey City University and a part-time lecturer in American Studies at Rutgers University.

Dolley Madison and her niece Annie Payne Cuttswho took care of her during her later years in Washington, DCin an 1848 daguerreotype by Matthew B. Brady. (From Greensboro Historical Museum Archives.)

Dolley in an 1848 daguerreotype by Matthew B. Brady, one of the very last images of her. (From Greensboro Historical Museum Archives.)

Portrait of Dolley Payne Todd Madison, ca. 1850, attributed to John Vanderlyn after a portrait by Gilbert Stuart. (From Greensboro Historical Museum.)

Payne Todd was the reckless, impulsive, sociopathic son of James and Dolley Madison. The president had to bail him out of jail on several occasions and pay about $1 million to cover his debts. Payne, who never married, ruined the Madisons financially in later life. Watercolor on ivory by Joseph Wood, ca. 1817. (Currently held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.)

The government gave President James Madison free lifetime franking, or mailing privileges, and, as an act of courtesy, extended them to Dolley when the president died. (From Greensboro Historical Museum Archives.)

The British army burned down the US Capitol, which was still under construction, when it attacked Washington, DC, in the summer of 1814. Hand-colored aquatint by William Strickland (engraver) and George Munger (artist), 1814. (From the Library of Congress.)

Not content with burning the Capitol, the British army moved to the White House. There, soldiers first ate a dinner set for American diplomats who had fled, and then they torched the building. The act enraged the American public. This lithograph by R. Farnham depicting the aftermath was completed in 1848. (From the Library of Congress.)

The naval heroes of the War of 1812 were turned into historical legends by the media, as shown in this large portrait of some of them by Currier & Ives, completed by N. Currier in 1846. (From the Library of Congress.)

The battle of New Orleans was actually fought after the treaty to end the War of 1812 was signed, and the victory of Andrew Jackson and the American forces there turned the war into a public-relations triumph for the United States. The battle is depicted in this lithograph by Peter Duval, 1840. (From the Library of Congress.)

The US frigate United States, commanded by Stephen Decatur, defeated the HBM frigate Macedonian in the War of 1812. Painted by Thomas Birch and engraved by Benjamin Tanner, 1813. (From the Library of Congress.)

Madison lived at his Montpelier mansion most of his life. In 1797 and in 1809, he renovated it. The first floor was changed by Madison to provide more room for his new wife and her sister when they arrived with him in 1797. A new front door (to the left on the map) was installed to offer access to the new wing of the home. He expanded the number and size of his mother's quarters on the right side of the floor, too. (Courtesy of Montpelier, a National Trust Historic Site.)

The second floor included more living space and terraces built on the roof of the first floor. Guests filled the terraces at parties. (Courtesy of Montpelier, a National Trust Historic Site.)

For decades, the original Montpelier building was buried beneath a larger structure. This is the actual plantation home, finally restored in the early 2000s. (Courtesy of Montpelier, a National Trust Historic Site.)

President John Adams and Madison were at first rivals, but Adams later became Madison's friend and lent him his full support when the War of 1812 began. Painting by Charles Willson Peale, ca. 17911794. (From Independence National Historical Park.)

Alexander Hamilton and Madison lobbied together to have the US Constitution ratified in 1788, but they split over political differences during George Washington's second term as president. Painting by Charles Willson Peale, ca. 17901795. (From Independence National Historical Park.)

James Madison in his forties. In midlife he had married and planned to retire from public life at his Montpelier plantation, but the Adams administration's unpopular Alien and Sedition Acts brought him back to the public stage, where he would remain. Painting by James Sharples Sr., 17961797. (From Independence National Historical Park.)

Madison and longtime friend James Monroe split when Monroe ran against him for president, but Thomas Jefferson brought the pair back together. Monroe was Madison's secretary of state and succeeded him in the White House. Painting attributed to Felix Sharples, ca. 18071811. (From Independence National Historical Park.)