Madison

It is said that that James Madison, who later became the 4th president of the United States, was the hardest working and most widely respected man of his day. James Madison had more to do with the conception of the United States Constitution and the first ten amendments than any other founding father of this nation. Madison was a strong Republican born into an aristocratic family in Port Conway, Virginia, he was the eldest of twelve children (Tanger,Wikipedia).

Madison was a member of the Virginia Constitutional Committee, who drafted Virginia's first constitution and a Bill of Rights that later became a model for the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution. Madison actively in supported religious toleration and was an advocate for the separation of church and state.

A provision was inserted in the Fifth Amendment that allowed congress to make amendments to the Constitution with a two thirds vote in both houses. Another way to amend the Constitution that has never been exercised was the provision would allow the states to hold conventions. If a convention of three-fourths the states were held then the amendment would be justified and enacted. The fact that over two thousand amendments to the Constitution were proposed during the first century of its history attests to some degree of the wisdom and foresight of the framers of the Constitution. On the other hand, the fact that only twenty-seven amendments have been adopted, has hardly met the expectations of the framers of the Constitution. A large number of the amendments proposed deal with the commencement and termination of the presidential term and the length of the presidential term. The majority of proposals on this topic greatly indicate that people do not like the system set up on presidential terms. The senate on three occasions passed a joint resolution providing for a change in the time of inaugurating the president (Tanger).

The president has been given the power to veto amendments proposed by congress. If the President does veto an amendment congress can still pass the amendment with a three-fourths decision to pass the amendment after a veto by the President. This power of veto has been challenged several times by congress, only to be voted down. Taken as a whole, the proposed amendments to the Constitution mirror the real problems confronting the government and the people (Federalist, world Book).

It is interesting to note that at no point does the president have a role in the formal amendment