[mad-uh-suh
n] 
| 1. | Dol⋅ly or Dol⋅ley [dol-ee] , (Dorothea Payne), 1768–1849, wife of James Madison. |
| 2. | James, 1751–1836, 4th president of the U.S. 1809–17. |
| 3. | a city in and the capital of Wisconsin, in the S part. 170,616. |
| 4. | a city in NE New Jersey. 15,357. |
| 5. | a town in S Connecticut. 14,031. |
| 6. | a city in SE Indiana. 12,472. |
| 7. | a river in SW Montana and NW Wyoming, flowing N to join the Jefferson and Gallatin rivers and form the Missouri River. 183 mi. (294 km) long. |
| 8. | a dance in which the participants stand side by side in a line while one person, acting as leader, calls out various steps, each letter of the word “Madison” signaling a specific step. |
| Madison, James 1751-1836. The fourth President of the United States (1809-1817). A member of the Continental Congress (1780-1783) and the Constitutional Convention (1787), he strongly supported ratification of the Constitution and was a contributor to The Federalist Papers (1787-1788), which argued the effectiveness of the proposed constitution. His presidency was marked by the War of 1812. Mad'i·so'ni·an (-sō'nē-ən) adj. |
A political leader of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries; one of the Founding Fathers. Madison was a member of the Continental Congress. A leader in the drafting of the Constitution, he worked tirelessly for its adoption by the states, contributing several essays to The Federalist Papers. He served as president from 1809 to 1817, after Thomas Jefferson. The United States fought the War of 1812 during his presidency. He was married to one of the most celebrated of presidents' wives, Dolley Madison.