Dolley Todd Madison was the wife of James Madison, the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. She was noted for holding Washington social functions in which she invited members of both political parties, essentially spearheading the concept of bipartisan cooperation. Previously, founders such as Thomas Jefferson would only meet with members of one party at a time, and politics could often be a violent affair resulting in physical altercations and even duels. Madison helped to create the idea that members of each party could amicably socialize, network, and negotiate with each other without violence. By innovating political institutions as the wife of James Madison, Dolley Madison did much to define the role of the President's spouse, known only much later by the title first lady—a function she had sometimes performed earlier for the widowed Thomas Jefferson.
1804 portrait by Gilbert Stuart
Dolley Madison
Miniature of Dolley in 1794 by James Peale
Pastel portrait of Dolley by James Sharples, Sr. - Madison was painted in pastels by James Sharples, Sr. in 1797, when she was twenty-nine years old. At that time, Dolley lived in Virginia at the Montpelier plantation. Her second husband, James Madison, was active in Virginia politics.
James Madison was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed the "Father of the Constitution" for his pivotal role in drafting and promoting the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.
1816 portrait
Virginia historic marker for Birthplace of President James Madison in Port Conway, Virginia
Madison as a student at Princeton, portrait by James Sharples
First page of the original handwritten copy of the U.S. Constitution