DOLLEY MADISON: POLITICAL PLAYER

OLLI of Greater Birmingham presents DOLLEY MADISON: POLITICAL PLAYER with presenter Joanne Bruer, retired instructor of history, Jacksonville State Univ.  Most Americans know Dolley Madison (1768-1849) as the brave First Lady who saved the portrait of George Washington during the British invasion of Washington; but her fame is not restricted to that one incident.  As wife of the Secretary of State under President Jefferson and as First Lady while her husband, James Madison, served as US President, Dolley was a model for political and social organization in the emerging young nation.  Dolley became a powerful political player in an age when womed were excluded from politics.  Her political strength lay in the ability to build models of bipartisan cooperation that would be crucial to the development of democracy in the new nation.