America's own government under the Articles of Confederation, Madison was convinced, had to be replaced. The Virginian's labors convinced him of the futility and weakness of confederacies of independent states. The determined Madison had for several years insatiably studied history and political theory searching for a solution to the political and economic dilemmas he saw plaguing America.
Torn between the hazards of lending his reputation to a gathering perhaps doomed to failure and the chance that the public would view his reluctance to attend with a critical eye, the general finally agreed to make the trip. Suffering from rheumatism, despondent over the loss of a brother, absorbed in the management of Mount Vernon, and doubting that the convention would accomplish very much or that many men of stature would attend, Washington delayed accepting the invitation to attend for several months. The Father of the Country had almost remained at home.
To many of those assembled, especially to the small, boyish-looking, 36-year-old delegate from Virginia, James Madison, the general's mere presence boded well for the convention, for the illustrious Washington gave to the gathering an air of importance and legitimacy But his decision to attend the convention had been an agonizing one. With characteristic ceremonial modesty, the general expressed his embarrassment at his lack of qualifications to preside over such an august body and apologized for any errors into which he might fall in the course of its deliberations. George Washington for the presidency of the Constitutional Convention. Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, the "financier" of the Revolution, opened the proceedings with a nomination-Gen. Guards stood at the entrances to ensure that the curious were kept at a distance. May 25, 1787, freshly spread dirt covered the cobblestone street in front of the Pennsylvania State House, protecting the men inside from the sound of passing carriages and carts.
He was unanimously elected president of the Philadelphia convention.
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