it references -- well, dolley madison didn't save it. what it references is dolley madison's heroism, she was the one who saved the portrait of george washington and other pieces from the white house. that she was the last one there as the british were advancing, and really left just a little in front of the advancing british troops who burnt the white house. >> in 1814. >> in 1814, although we call it the war of 1812, and all that was left of the skeleton of the white house which you can see in the graphic behind the dresses. it's a period picture of the burnt white house. >> and her actions following that to keep the capital in washington? >> there was talk about moving to the capital to what seemed to be an easier place, somebody that didn't have to be rebuilt. dolley madison made it back to washington in four days, rented the octagon house and set up shop there. and proceeded to have parties again, have gatherings and to make a statement that said we're here. we survived and we're staying here, and began the rebuilding of the preside

so james and dolley lived on the left side. his parents and their other children lived on the right side. and the way the two households called on each other was via the front doors in the shelter of the portico. now the house remained in this configuration only for about ten years, and then madison was elected president of the united states. and with that then huge salary of $25,000 a year, he embarked on another renovation and expansion campaign of his home. he added the one-story wings on either side. by the wing on this side, he create his private library. the wing on the other side he really designed as a private apartment for his mother. his father had passed away by this time. and then he added the door, designed with the help of his good friend thomas jefferson as the real centerpiece welcoming you in to montpelier. so this home as it now stands really reflects james madison's vision for his home, and it also tells his entire life story, from the youth to his marriage to his ascension to the position of president of the

dolley, for example, continued to use president's square on her letters. the comment itself was no longer an abandoned apple orchard but had been landscaped in advance of lafayette's visit. the restored white house sported porticos at both the north and south fronts. half the bill's charred and weakened exterior walls had been rebuilt. in the course of which workmen dug out in the course of preservation the dinner display the day the british torched the mansion in august 1814. the george washington portrait had long ago been retrieved from the maryland farmhouse where it rested in safety for several weeks after the fire and returned to dolley madison, who made sure that it was hung in the monroe white house. not until the last years of the madison administration had the square begun to buzz with construction. even as the white house was being repaired, the cornerstone was laid for st. john's church on the opposite edge of the common. the first episcopal service was celebrated there six months before the madison household returned to virginia. on jennings'

and he was placed here and located so that his wife, dolley, who outlived him, could be buried next to him. however, dolley had moved to washington and died in washington, and she was first interred at congressional cemetery. and it wasn't until the 1850s that her body was returned to montpelier. at about the same time, this memorial was erected, in 1858, and you see it just simply marks madison giving his last name, his birth date, and the date of his death. however, in building this memorial, to mark his burial site, the builders also used the grave site set aside for dolley so that when her remains were brought here about the same time, she was buried behind madison instead of beside him and she also has a marker on her grave site. we think today that a grave has to be marked. i think for the family, the marking of the grave was the cemetery itself. and this was the existence of the cemetery, the walls that enclose it, designated this as the family's burial ground, so that an additional marking inside it wasn't necessary. as i said, both madison's parents and his grandparents are bu

john's church and you see the dolley madison house. one reason i wanted to show you these particular two images is because they were both water colors, made by madam hyde denuville. hyden clay and martin van buren were notable whose rented the decatur house. these were some of the many people, many notable people, par sonages if you -- personages, whom jennings got to know. even as a slave, it helps to know people in high places. he was well connected, a networker and he took appropriate advantage of the connections in his pursuit of the right to rise. and i feel obliged to say that the door at dolly madison's house moved all over the place. first in front. then it moved to the side where you see it in that photograph. later that door was made a window. today it is further down on h street. you see president polk whom jennings worked for you. can believe that dolly kept all the earnings. and dolly herself, who is a little bit fuzzy, she is not holding her, her head straight enough is to the right of polk as you are looking at the photo