2. Did you know he is considered by Princeton University it's first graduate student ? (In 1769, an 18-year-old Madison left his family's Montpelier plantation to attend the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). He proceeded to blaze through the four-year course in only two years, often sleeping just four hours a night to make time for reading law and Greek and Roman philosophy. Though a natural scholar, Madison was still unsure of what career path to take after graduating, so he remained at Princeton for another year and studied Hebrew and other subjects under the direction of the school's president, John Witherspoon.)
3. Did you know both of his Vice-Presidents died in office ? (Original VP George Clinton died in 1812, and Clinton's successor Elbridge Gerry later suffered a fatal hemorrhage in 1814, just a year and a half after taking office. Having lost two vice presidents in less than three years, Madison finished his second term without a recognized number two.)
4. Did you know one of Madison's slaves wrote the first White House memoir ? (One of the most interesting accounts of Madison's life came courtesy of Paul Jennings, a black slave who was born into bondage on his Montpelier plantation. Jennings accompanied the newly elected President to the White House as a boy and eventually spent nearly three decades serving as Madison's footman and manservant before purchasing his freedom in 1847. He later recounted his experiences in 1865's A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison, a short book now considered the first memoir of life in the White House. Along with a look at Madison, whom Jennings describes as a temperate man who "always dressed wholly in black" and never owned more than one suit, the memoir also includes a firsthand account of the evacuation of the White House during the War of 1812, during which Dolley Madison oversaw the rescue of a famous portrait of George Washington.)
5. Did you know Madison's likeness appeared on the U.S. currency $5000 bill ? (Some are still in circulation; a bill in very good condition went for more than $100,000 at an auction in 2010.)
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