May 22, 1962 - Two sets of the first two volumes of the papers of James Madison were presented to President Kennedy today. Mr. Kennedy described President Madison as “perhaps the most underrated, from the point of view of his contribution, of any of our Founding Fathers.” Five historians gave Mr. Kennedy one set of the papers for himself and another for the White House library. They cover the first 30 years of the life of the fourth President. Prof. William T. Hutchinson of the University of Chicago noted that the Constitutional Convention met 175 years ago this month. It was 150 years ago next month, he said, that the War of 1812 began. Madison was associated importantly with both events, he recalled.
