"What did James Madison do?" Madison authored the Bill of Rights, the Virginia Plan, co-wrote the Federalist Papers, and championed religious freedom and checks and balances in government. The fourth President of the United States died peacefully over his breakfast on June 28, 1836. He is buried in the family cemetery at Montpelier, where Dolley, his wife of 42 years, eventually joined him. | James Madison's Montpelier