Most people know Dolley Madison as a snack cake brand or the heroine who saved a portrait of George Washington from a burning White House. The truth is far more impressive: she was the unofficial architect of American bipartisanship, inventing the political dinner party that kept vicious rivals from shooting each other.

This deep dive traces her journey from a strict Quaker upbringing through devastating personal losses, her marriage to James Madison, and her reign as Washington's ultimate social operator. We also examine the real story of the Washington portrait, the enslaved man Paul Jennings, and her tragic descent into poverty.

• Her Quaker roots and the family ruin that shaped her early life
• Aaron Burr's role in securing her inheritance and introducing James Madison
• Pioneering bipartisan socializing in a capita ...