Madison's Colleagues & Friends

James Madison had many friendships with other founders and contemporaries, though none closer — both privately and politically — than Thomas Jefferson.

The Madison-Jefferson Friendship

"...You have been a pillar of support through life... Take care of me when dead... the friendship which has subsisted between us, now a half a century, and the harmony of our political principles and pursuits... [have] been sources of happiness to me through that long period."

– Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson penned these words in a letter to James Madison a few months before Jefferson's death on July 4, 1826. Madison, like his trusted friend, realized that their lives were growing short and the opportunities for contributions to their country, as well as reflections on their private lives, were becoming limited. The loving and poignant tone of this correspondence serves as a fitting epitaph to one of the most remarkable personal and political friendships in American history.

James Madison and Thomas Jefferson first met in 1776 when Madison was serving as Orange County's representative to the Virginia House of Delegates. Before the year was over, both men chose the paths that led to their famous futures. Jefferson, at age 33, went to Philadelphia to become the author of the Declaration of Independence. Madison, at age 25, stayed in Williamsburg to become a member of the convention which drafted Virginia's first constitution. Their friendship became warmer in 1779, however, during Jefferson's tenure as governor of Virginia, when Madison served as a member of his official advisory council. By the early 1780's, as their new country emerged from the chaos of revolution, their close personal ties and political collaboration were cemented.

Both men were avid readers and collected volumes on a variety of subjects—history, philosophy, science, agriculture, politics, and economics. Madison and Jefferson often discussed books in their letters and, during his stay in France, Jefferson sent Madison over 200 books. Always scholars, they used their studies as well as legislative experience to shape their ideas on government. Both men fervently believed that an educated public was necessary for survival of the country. At Jefferson's death, Madison succeeded his friend as rector of the University of Virginia and continued to oversee one of their most important ventures.

The personal friendship of Madison and Jefferson was built on other interests as well. They shared a love of the Virginia countryside; the fertile lands of the Piedmont offered both men the opportunities to study and discuss practical and financial questions of gardening, agriculture and forestry. Both kept careful records of local temperatures and rainfall while they exchanged seeds and farming tips. Jefferson asked Madison and another good friend, James Monroe, to move near Monticello in order to build "a society to our taste." Monroe did take up residence nearby at Ash Lawn–Highland, but Madison made do with being a day's ride away.

As classically educated men, both found the Greeks and Romans to be not only sources of information on principles of government, but also as an inspiration for the architecture of their homes. Both Montpelier and Monticello show classical influences; Montpelier's graceful Garden Temple, for example, resembles Jefferson's sketches for his garden buildings. The two often discussed house plans and sent sketches in their letters; they shared the services of local craftsmen as well. During the first renovations of Montpelier (ca. 1797-1800), Madison ordered nails from Jefferson's nailery.

Madison and Jefferson both believed strongly that the powers of government belong ultimately to the people who are governed. Their mutual love of reading and political discussion led to their shared belief in "republican principles" of government. Both agreed on the principle of majority rule with minority rights — the idea that governmental decision-making should allow for dissent of the minority. Both believed in the power of the human mind and individual conscience. These ideas are reflected in their passionate support for the ideas simply delivered in the Bill of Rights — freedom of religion, speech, and the press. During Jefferson's presidency (1801-1809), James Madison was his secretary of state and Dolley Madison often served as the hostess at official functions for the widowed chief executive. Madison followed his friend with two terms of his own (1809-1817) as president.

James Madison reassured his dying friend and reconfirmed the quality of their intertwined lives in his last letter to Jefferson:

"You cannot look back to the long period of our private friendship and political harmony, with more affecting recollections than I do. If they are a source of pleasure to you, what ought they not be to me?... Wishing and hoping that you may yet live to increase the debt which our country owes you, and to witness the increasing gratitude, which alone can pay it, I offer you the fullest return of affectionate assurances. "

– James Madison