the 2,600-acre estate of montpelier was once home to the nation's fourth president, james madison and his wife dolley. it lies about 90 miles south of the nation's capital in orange county, virginia, the national trust for historic preservation owns the property that is managed by the nonprofit montpelier foundation. "american history tv" visited the site for a tour with the foundation's president, michael quinn. >> welcome to the home of james and dolley madison. this house really tells madison's entire life story, and the house as it appears now reflects his vision for his lifelong home. the core of the house was actually built by his father, and madison moved in when he was only about 14 years old. in fact, later in life he talks about walking from the old farmhouse over here carrying some of the lighter furniture. but if you look at the house now, you can actually pick out the original core built by his father. if you look on the -- it's the doorway on the far left, just to the right of it, you'll see a line in the brick where the brick was stitched together. that's the original c

eremained at montpelier his entire life. in fact, he accompanied madison when he was sent to college at princeton. while at this point in their lives, there are many similarities, as they aged, their life experiences were much, much different. and of course it could be no other way given the reality of slavery in america at the time. madison's parents realized his incredible ability and they sent him to princeton, then called the college of new jersey. prior to that, that prepared him and placed him with a private tutor by the name of donald robertson. madison studied with robertson for five years. he was a scottsman who is from edinburgh. he was part of the scottish enlight enlightenment, a presbyterian minister. later in life, madison was to write everything i became i owed to that man. it was the rigorous training and inspiration by an amazing teacher that prepared him to take on a strong role in building the american nation. we are going to go to the dining room and take a look at how james and dolly entertain their gues

featuring james madison's montpelier. for schedule information and to view american history programs on line, visit our website. c-span.org/history. >> the richard nixon presidential library convened a symposium. understanding richard nixon and his era. this program is the first panel discussion from the conference and addresses his life story from his parents' political views to the writing of his memoirs. this is an hour and 15 minutes. >> good morning, everyone. it's great to see everyone here at the first scholarly conference and see the library buzzing with conversation and activity. we are the first conversation and we will make introductions for all four of these gentlemen. they are going to speak for about five to seven minutes raising the questions and research areas that have yet to be explored. then we are going to open it for audience conversation. we want to invite you into this discussion. let me start with the introductions. up first, joe, my colleague at wittier college. joe is an associate professor and l

it is the only known likeness of any month montpelier slave. i worked to, um, seek out jennings' direct descendants, and i had tips to the living direct descendants of two of jennings' children but none for his son franklin. when i finally cracked that line, it led me to sylvia jennings alexander. she was 93 years old when i had the privilege of meeting her, and she was the keeper of the jennings family oral tradition. and on her living room wall was this likeness of paul jennings. mrs. alexander lived another year and a half after i met her, and though she had physical maladies when i first met her, her mind was sharp as a tack, and her memories that she learned from her grandfather franklin, franklin lived to be 90, and so she heard right from franklin many of the family stories that go back to slavery days. and she very much enriched my story and also my own personal experience. by the way, she shared many family photographs with me, and "a slave in the white house" has over 20 photographs and maps and other graphics, but there were many mor

with the help of his good friend as the centerpiece welcoming you into montpelier. this home as it stands reflects james madison's vision for his home and also told his entire life story from the youth to his marriage to his ascension to the position of president of the united states of america. let's go in and learn about james and dolly. his drawing room and where every member of the public is welcomed. with virginia hospitality and madison's fame for his statesmanship, he was visited constantly. foreign visitors and rising politicians in america. abdomen rue jackson came and just the merely curious. they would have been welcomed in the room and made a powerful impression. visitor after visitor talked about the presidential splendor and did reflect his entire career as a statesman and a virginia planter and a force in the creation of the american nation. for madison, the history of humanity was his laboratory. america today was founded on the past. that's a pan figure and a nymph. this is alluding to the ancient world. the ideas on which the constitution was based

there was noplace to come but montpelier in orange, virginia. it encompasses four square miles of land and many features and attractions and it's a place to learn about the ideas of the founding of america and the constitution that still governs the life today. >> this is one of a series of american artifacts programs. for schedule information and to view american history programs on line, visit our website. c-span.org/history. >> the richard nixon presidential library convened a symposium. this is the first panel discussion from the conference and addresses his life story from his parents's political views to the writing of his memoirs. this is an hour and 15 minutes. . >> good morning, everyone. it's great to see everyone here at the first scholarly conference and see the library buzzing with conversation and activity. we are the first conversation and we will make introductions for all four of these gentlemen. they are going to speak for about five to seven minutes raising the questions and research areas that have yet to be explored. then we

montpelier encompasses four square miles of land, many features and attractions, most of all it's a place to learn about the ideas of the founding of america

and the visitors who came to mind the earlier --montpelier were interested too. they never came out with a new edition and i thought i will bring that out, reminiscences themselves and a biographical essay with them. and i got more ambitious from there until it turned into a full-length book. >> he mentioned he died at 75. where is he married? in washington? >> he was buried in harmony cemetery which is southeast and that was ok except as the years went by that burial ground became very much overrun with weeds. as some of you may know the burials were dug up in maryland except i don't know if there are other cases but paul jennings remains never made the trip. sylvia jennings alexander, paul jennings's great-grandmother remembered cousin pauline crying they lost grandpa paul. also -- barre in harmony cemetery, where remains are at this moment are unknown. >> when i first met beth she was at monticello and she recalled the story to me a little earlier. i haven't seen her for a number of years. i knew she was working on this book and she came wandering down the hal