Madison Administrations - Post-presidential Years
Post-presidential Years
After the end of his second term in 1817, Madison followed the two-term tradition set by President Washington and retired to Montpelier, Virginia. He avoided public activities, but he spent a good deal of time corresponding on public issues. He advised President James Monroe on foreign affairs, arranged his own papers for posthumous publication and, like his predecessor, Jefferson, involved himself in scientific agriculture. He supported Jefferson's new University of Virginia, and even became the rector (leading officer) upon Jefferson's death. He continued his outspoken opposition to slavery and headed the American Colonization Society, which supported efforts to relocate slaves to Africa, for a short time. (The United States supported the creation of Liberia for freed slaves in 1823 during the James Monroe presidency.) Though Madison was a critic of slavery, he felt the United States would never reconcile...
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