| Restored to its original splendor, Montpelier is now a national shrine, butbefore Montpelier became a place of study and tribute, it was a home. Often kept from it by thebusiness of the young nation, James and Dolley Madison could finally take up permanent residencewhen they retired from Washington in 1817. Their lifelong friend Thomas Jefferson predicted that, atMontpelier, the retiring Madison could return to his",books and farm, to tranquility, andindependence,", that he would be released",from incessant labors, corroding anxieties,active enemies, and interested friends.",As the celebrated historian RalphKetcham shows, this would turn out to be only partly true. Although the Madisons were no longer inWashington, Dolley continued to take part in its social scene from afar, dominating it just as shehad during Jefferson's and her husband's administrations, commenting on people andevents there and advising the multitude of young people who thought of her as the creator of societylife in the young republic. James maintained a steady correspondence about public questions rangingfrom Native American affairs, slavery, and utopian reform to religion and education. He also took anactive role at the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-30, in the defeat ofnullification, and in the establishment of the University of Virginia, of which he was the rectorfor eight years after Jefferson's death. Exploring Madison's role in thesepost-presidential issues reveals a man of extraordinary intellectual vitality and helps us tobetter understand Madison's political thought. His friendships with figures such as Jefferson,James Monroe, and the Marquis de Lafayette--as well as his assessment of them (he outlivedthem all)--shed valuable light on the nature of the republic they had all helpedfound.In their last years, James and Dolley Madison personified the republicaninstitutions and culture of the new nation--James as the father of the Constitution and itschief propounder for nearly half a century, and Dolley as the creator of the role of",FirstLady.", Anything but uneventful, the retirement period at Montpelier should be seen as a crucialelement in our understanding of this remarkable couple. |
