And I have no doubt that every new example will succeed, as every past one has done, in showing that religion and Government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.

He served as a politician much of his adult life. Like most of his contemporaries Madison changed his political views during his life. As president (1809–17) after the failure of diplomatic protests and a trade embargo against Great Britain he led the nation into the War of 1812.