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Medal Name: Fourth President of the United States of America
Struck for: President James Madison
Approval: Act of Congress
OBVERSE
JAMES MADISON PRESIDENT OF THE U. S. (United States) A. D. (Anno Domini: The year of our Lord) 1809.
Bust of President Madison, facing the left.
REVERSE
PEACE AND FRIENDSHIP.
Two hands clasped, in token of amity; on the cuff of the left wrist three stripes and as many buttons with the American eagle on them; the other wrist bare; above the hands, a calumet and a tomahawk crossed - Indian emblems of peace and war.
BACKGROUND
James Madison was born at King George, on the Rappahannock river, Virginia, March 16, 1751. He was graduated at the College of New Jersey, Princeton, 1771; studied law; was member of the General Assembly of Virginia, 1776; of the Continental Congress, 1780-1783; of the State Legislature of Virginia, 1784; of the Philadelphia Convention, 1787; representative in Congress from Virginia, 1789-1797; secretary of State to President Jefferson, 1801-1809; President of the United States (first term), 1809-1813; (second term), 1813-1817. He died at his estate of Montpelier, Orange County, Virginia, June 28, 1836.
Source: The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 by J. F. Loubat, LL.D. (1878)