Known as the Father of the Constitution, James Madison served two terms as the fourth president, from 1809 until 1817. Determined that all Americans be treated fairly, he devised our three branches of government and drafted the Bill of Rights. When the British set fire to Washington D.C. in 1814, his wife Dolley saved one of our country's greatest treasures, a portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart which now hangs in the Smithsonian Institution,...

A group portrait of America's first four presidents from Virginia focuses on a series of key historical episodes that illustrate how the myriad leadership roles of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe promoted transcendental, if contradictory, national views about freedom and equality.