Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "James Monroe" - New World
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{{Infobox_President | name=James Monroe | {{Infobox_President | name=James Monroe | ||
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| date1=March 4, 1817 | | date1=March 4, 1817 | ||
| date2=March 3, 1825<!-- Prior to the passage of the 20th Amendment, presidential terms ended at 11:59:59 on March 3. —> | | date2=March 3, 1825<!-- Prior to the passage of the 20th Amendment, presidential terms ended at 11:59:59 on March 3. —> | ||
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− | '''James Monroe''' (April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831) was the fifth (1817–1825) | + | '''James Monroe''' (April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831) was the fifth (1817–1825) president of the United States. Monroe's Presidency was marked by a steep decline in partisan politics, after the politically charged [[War of 1812]]. He was the last American president of the “Virginia Dynasty”—of the first five U.S. presidents, four were born and lived in Virginia. Monroe also had a long and distinguished public career as a soldier, diplomat, governor, senator, and cabinet official. His presidency, which began in 1817 and lasted until 1825, encompassed what came to be called the "[[Era of Good Feeling]]*." One of his lasting achievements was the Monroe Doctrine, which became a major tenet of U.S. foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere. |
− | == | + | == Family and early years == |
+ | Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Monroe went to school at Campbelltown Academy and then the College of William and Mary, both in Virginia. Monroe's father, Spence Monroe, was a woodworker and tobacco farmer and mother Elizabeth Jones Monroe had significant land holdings, but little money. After graduating from William and Mary in 1776, Monroe fought in the Continental Army, serving with distinction at the Battle of Trenton, where he was shot in his left shoulder. Following his military service, he practiced law in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Monroe married Elizabeth Kortright on February 16, 1786, at the Trinity Church in New York. | ||
− | + | ==Political Career== | |
− | + | Monroe was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1782 and served in the Continental Congress (1783–1786). As a youthful politician, he joined the anti-Federalists in the Virginia Convention which ratified the Constitution, and in 1790, was elected [[United States Senate|United States]] Senator. As Minister to [[France]] in 1794–1796, he displayed strong sympathies for the [[French Revolution]]; later, with Robert R. Livingston and under the direction of President [[Thomas Jefferson]], he helped negotiate the [[Louisiana Purchase]]. | |
− | Monroe | + | Monroe served as governor of Virginia from 1799 to 1802. He was minister to France again in 1803 and then minister to the Court of St. James from 1803 to 1807. He returned to the Virginia House of Delegates and was elected to another term as governor of Virginia in 1811, but he resigned a few months into the term. He then served as secretary of state from 1811 to 1814. When he was appointed to secretary of war on October 1, 1814, he stayed on as the interim secretary of state. On February 28, 1815, he was again commissioned as the permanent secretary of state, and left his position as secretary of war. Thus from October 1, 1814 to February 28, 1815, Monroe held the two cabinet posts. Monroe stayed on as secretary of state until the end of the [[James Madison]] presidency, and the following day Monroe began his term as the new president of the United States. |
== Presidency 1817-1825== | == Presidency 1817-1825== | ||
Line 35: | Line 36: | ||
Following the [[War of 1812]], Monroe was elected president in the election of 1816, and re-elected in 1820. In both those elections Monroe ran nearly uncontested. | Following the [[War of 1812]], Monroe was elected president in the election of 1816, and re-elected in 1820. In both those elections Monroe ran nearly uncontested. | ||
− | Attentive to detail, well prepared on most issues, non-partisan in spirit, and above all pragmatic, Monroe managed his presidential duties well. | + | Attentive to detail, well prepared on most issues, non-partisan in spirit, and above all pragmatic, Monroe managed his presidential duties well. He made strong cabinet choices, naming a southerner, John C. Calhoun, as secretary of war, and a northerner, [[John Quincy Adams]], as secretary of state. Only Henry Clay's refusal kept Monroe from adding an outstanding westerner. Most appointments went to deserving Republicans, but he did not try to use them to build the party's base. Indeed, he allowed the base to decay, which reduced tensions and led to the naming of his era as the "Era of Good Feeling." |
+ | |||
+ | To build goodwill, he made two long tours in 1817. Frequent stops allowed innumerable ceremonies of welcome and good will. The Federalist Party dwindled and eventually died out, starting with the Hartford Convention. Practically every politician belonged to the Democratic-Republican Party, but the party lost its vitality and organizational integrity. The party's Congressional caucus stopped meeting, and there were no national conventions. | ||
===Acquisition of Florida=== | ===Acquisition of Florida=== | ||
− | Monroe's greatest achievements as president lay in foreign affairs. Ably supported by Adams, he made substantial territorial additions and gave American policy a distinctly national orientation. Monroe welcomed an opportunity to press Spain to cede Florida and define the boundaries of Louisiana. His chance came when | + | Monroe's greatest achievements as president lay in foreign affairs. Ably supported by Adams, he made substantial territorial additions and gave American policy a distinctly national orientation. Monroe welcomed an opportunity to press Spain to cede Florida and define the boundaries of Louisiana. His chance came when General [[Andrew Jackson]] invaded Florida in 1818. In pursuit of hostile Indians, Jackson seized the posts of St. Marks and Pensacola, acts that many persons regarded as violations of congressional war powers. In the cabinet, Adams, an expansionist, urged Jackson's complete vindication, while Crawford and Calhoun demanded that he be reprimanded for exceeding his instructions. |
Monroe chose a middle course—the posts were restored to Spain, but the administration accepted Jackson's explanation that his action had been justified by conditions in Florida. The incident led Spain to cede Florida and define, favorably to American claims, the boundary of the Louisiana Purchase in the Adams-Onís Treaty negotiated in 1819. | Monroe chose a middle course—the posts were restored to Spain, but the administration accepted Jackson's explanation that his action had been justified by conditions in Florida. The incident led Spain to cede Florida and define, favorably to American claims, the boundary of the Louisiana Purchase in the Adams-Onís Treaty negotiated in 1819. | ||
===Missouri Compromise=== | ===Missouri Compromise=== | ||
− | The Missouri Compromise, also called the Compromise of 1820, was an agreement passed in 1820 between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States, involving primarily the regulation of slavery in the western territories. It prohibited slavery for all new states north of the 36°30' line, or the border of the Arkansas territory (excluding Missouri). Prior to the agreement, the House of Representatives had refused to accept this boundary and a conference committee was appointed. The United States Senate refused to concur in the amendment, and the whole measure was lost. During the following session (1819-1820), the House passed a similar bill with an amendment introduced on January 26, 1820 by John W. Taylor of New York allowing Missouri into the union as a slave state. In the meantime, the question had been complicated by the admission in December of Alabama, a slave state (the number of slave and free states now becoming equal), and by the passage through the House (January 3, 1820) of a bill to admit Maine as a free state. | + | The Missouri Compromise, also called the Compromise of 1820, was an agreement passed in 1820 between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States, involving primarily the regulation of slavery in the western territories. It prohibited slavery for all new states north of the 36°30' line, or the border of the Arkansas territory (excluding Missouri). Prior to the agreement, the House of Representatives had refused to accept this boundary and a conference committee was appointed. The United States Senate refused to concur in the amendment, and the whole measure was lost. |
+ | |||
+ | During the following session (1819-1820), the House passed a similar bill with an amendment introduced on January 26, 1820 by John W. Taylor of New York allowing Missouri into the union as a slave state. In the meantime, the question had been complicated by the admission in December of Alabama, a slave state (the number of slave and free states now becoming equal), and by the passage through the House (January 3, 1820) of a bill to admit Maine as a free state. | ||
The Senate decided to connect the two measures, and passed a bill for the admission of Maine with an amendment enabling the people of Missouri to form a state constitution. Before the bill was returned to the House, a second amendment was adopted on the motion of Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois, excluding slavery from the Missouri Territory north of 36°30' (the southern boundary of Missouri), except within the limits of the proposed state of Missouri. The House of Representatives refused to accept this and a conference committee was appointed. | The Senate decided to connect the two measures, and passed a bill for the admission of Maine with an amendment enabling the people of Missouri to form a state constitution. Before the bill was returned to the House, a second amendment was adopted on the motion of Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois, excluding slavery from the Missouri Territory north of 36°30' (the southern boundary of Missouri), except within the limits of the proposed state of Missouri. The House of Representatives refused to accept this and a conference committee was appointed. | ||
===Monroe Doctrine=== | ===Monroe Doctrine=== | ||
− | The Monroe Doctrine, expressed in 1823, proclaimed the [[United States]] opinion that European powers should no longer colonize the Americas or interfere with the affairs of sovereign nations located in the Americas, such as the | + | The Monroe Doctrine, expressed in 1823, proclaimed the [[United States]] opinion that European powers should no longer colonize the Americas or interfere with the affairs of sovereign nations located in the Americas, such as the United States of America, [[Mexico]], and others. In return, the United States planned to stay neutral in wars between European powers and in wars between a European power and its colonies. However, if these latter type of wars were to occur in the Americas, the U.S. would view such action as hostile toward itself. |
− | The doctrine was issued by | + | The doctrine was issued by Monroe during his seventh annual State of the Union address to Congress. It was met first with doubt, then with enthusiasm. This was a defining moment in the foreign policy of the United States. |
The Monroe Doctrine states three major ideas, with one more added by President [[Theodore Roosevelt]]. First, it conveys that European countries cannot colonize in any of the Americas: North, Central, or South. Second, it enforces Washington's rule of foreign policy, in which the U.S. will only be involved in European affairs if America's rights are disturbed. Third, the U.S. will consider any attempt at colonization a threat to its national security. Roosevelt added to the doctrine, and summed up his additions with the statement, "Speak softly and carry a big stick." | The Monroe Doctrine states three major ideas, with one more added by President [[Theodore Roosevelt]]. First, it conveys that European countries cannot colonize in any of the Americas: North, Central, or South. Second, it enforces Washington's rule of foreign policy, in which the U.S. will only be involved in European affairs if America's rights are disturbed. Third, the U.S. will consider any attempt at colonization a threat to its national security. Roosevelt added to the doctrine, and summed up his additions with the statement, "Speak softly and carry a big stick." | ||
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==Post-Presidency== | ==Post-Presidency== | ||
− | Upon leaving the White House after his presidency expired on March 4, 1825, James Monroe moved to live at Monroe Hill on the grounds of the University of Virginia. | + | Upon leaving the White House after his presidency expired on March 4, 1825, James Monroe moved to live at Monroe Hill on the grounds of the University of Virginia. This university's modern campus was originally Monroe's family farm from 1788 to 1817, but he had sold it to the new college in the first year of his presidency. He served on the Board of Visitors under Jefferson and then under the second rector and another former President [[James Madison]], until his death. |
− | Monroe had racked up debts during his years of public life. As a result, he was forced to sell off his Highland Plantation. | + | Monroe had racked up debts during his years of public life. As a result, he was forced to sell off his Highland Plantation. Today, it is owned by the College of William and Mary, which has opened it to the public. He never recovered from his financial troubles, and his wife's poor health made matters worse. As a result, he and his wife lived in Oak Hill until Elizabeth's death on September 23, 1830. |
==Death== | ==Death== | ||
− | Following his wife Elizabeth's death, Monroe moved to live with his daughter Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur in [[New York City]] and died there from heart failure and tuberculosis on July 4, 1831, 55 years after the [[U.S. Declaration of Independence]] was proclaimed and | + | Following his wife Elizabeth's death, Monroe moved to live with his daughter Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur in [[New York City]] and died there from heart failure and tuberculosis on July 4, 1831, 55 years after the [[U.S. Declaration of Independence]] was proclaimed and five years after the death of presidents [[John Adams]] and [[Thomas Jefferson]]. He was originally buried in New York, but he was re-interred in 1858 to the President's Circle at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. |
==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
− | * Apart from [[George Washington]] and Washington | + | * Apart from [[George Washington]] and Washington, D.C., James Monroe is the only U.S. President to have had a country's capital city named after him—that of Monrovia in Liberia which was founded by the American Colonization Society, in 1822, as a haven for freed slaves. |
* Monroe was the third president to die on July 4. | * Monroe was the third president to die on July 4. | ||
* Monroe was (arguably) the last president to have fought in the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], although [[Andrew Jackson]] served as a 13-year-old courier in the Continental Army and was taken as a prisoner of war by the British. | * Monroe was (arguably) the last president to have fought in the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]], although [[Andrew Jackson]] served as a 13-year-old courier in the Continental Army and was taken as a prisoner of war by the British. | ||
* In the famous painting of [[Washington's Delaware Crossing]] (also depicted on the New Jersey state quarter), Monroe is standing behind [[George Washington]] and holds the American flag. | * In the famous painting of [[Washington's Delaware Crossing]] (also depicted on the New Jersey state quarter), Monroe is standing behind [[George Washington]] and holds the American flag. | ||
* Monroe's daughter, Maria Monroe, was the first person ever to be married in the White House. | * Monroe's daughter, Maria Monroe, was the first person ever to be married in the White House. | ||
− | *In the election of 1820, Monroe received every electoral vote except one. A New Hampshire delegate casted his vote on an unknown because he wanted Washington to be the only president to be elected unanimously. | + | * In the election of 1820, Monroe received every electoral vote except one. A New Hampshire delegate casted his vote on an unknown because he wanted Washington to be the only president to be elected unanimously. |
− | *Monroe's inauguration in 1817 was the first to be held outdoors. | + | * Monroe's inauguration in 1817 was the first to be held outdoors. |
− | *Monroe was the first president to ride on a steamboat. | + | * Monroe was the first president to ride on a steamboat. |
− | * Monroe was the only president to serve in two different cabinet posts. He was | + | * Monroe was the only president to serve in two different cabinet posts. He was secretary of state and secretary of war. |
*James Monroe was the first president to tour the country. | *James Monroe was the first president to tour the country. | ||
*No one ran against Monroe when he ran for his second term in 1820. | *No one ran against Monroe when he ran for his second term in 1820. | ||
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==References== | ==References== | ||
− | * Ammon, Harry ''James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity'' Charlottesville : University Press of Virginia, 1990 ISBN 0813912660 | + | * Ammon, Harry. ''James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity''. Charlottesville : University Press of Virginia, 1990. ISBN 0813912660 |
− | * Cunningham, Noble E., Jr. ''The Presidency of James Monroe'' | + | * Cunningham, Noble E., Jr. ''The Presidency of James Monroe'' (American Presidency Series). Lawrence, K.S.: University Press of Kansas, 1996. ISBN 0700607285 |
− | * Dangerfield, George ''The Era of Good Feelings'' Norwalk, | + | * Dangerfield, George. ''The Era of Good Feelings''. Norwalk, C.T.: Easton Press, 1986. |
− | * Dangerfield, George ''The Awakening of American Nationalism: 1815 - 1828'' New York : Harper & Row, | + | * Dangerfield, George. ''The Awakening of American Nationalism: 1815 - 1828''. New York: Harper & Row, 1965. |
− | * Holmes, David L. ''The Faiths of the Founding Fathers'' | + | * Holmes, David L. ''The Faiths of the Founding Fathers''. New York : Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN 9780195300925 |
− | * Holmes, David L. "The Religion of James Monroe" | + | * Holmes, David L. "The Religion of James Monroe." ''The Virginia Quarterly Review'' (Autumn 2003). [http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2003/autumn/holmes-religion-james-monroe/ Online version] |
== External links == | == External links == | ||
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| before=Robert Smith | | before=Robert Smith | ||
| after=[[John Quincy Adams]] | | after=[[John Quincy Adams]] | ||
− | | years=April 2, 1811 – September 30, 1814;<br>February 28, 1815 – March 3, 1817}} | + | | years=April 2, 1811 – September 30, 1814;<br/>February 28, 1815 – March 3, 1817}} |
{{succession box | {{succession box | ||
| title=United States Secretary of War | | title=United States Secretary of War | ||
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| title=Democratic-Republican Party presidential nominee | | title=Democratic-Republican Party presidential nominee | ||
| before=[[James Madison]] | | before=[[James Madison]] | ||
− | | after=[[John Quincy Adams]],<br>Henry Clay,<br>William Harris Crawford,<br>[[Andrew Jackson]]<sup>(a)</sup> | + | | after=[[John Quincy Adams]],<br/>Henry Clay,<br/>William Harris Crawford,<br/>[[Andrew Jackson]]<sup>(a)</sup> |
| years=1816 (won), 1820 (won)}} | | years=1816 (won), 1820 (won)}} | ||
{{succession box | {{succession box |
Revision as of 20:31, 12 April 2007
Term of office | March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1825 |
Preceded by | James Madison |
Succeeded by | John Quincy Adams |
Date of birth | April 28, 1758 |
Place of birth | Westmoreland County, Virginia |
Date of death | July 4, 1831 |
Place of death | New York City |
Spouse | Elizabeth Kortright Monroe |
Political party | Democratic-Republican |
James Monroe (April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831) was the fifth (1817–1825) president of the United States. Monroe's Presidency was marked by a steep decline in partisan politics, after the politically charged War of 1812. He was the last American president of the “Virginia Dynasty”—of the first five U.S. presidents, four were born and lived in Virginia. Monroe also had a long and distinguished public career as a soldier, diplomat, governor, senator, and cabinet official. His presidency, which began in 1817 and lasted until 1825, encompassed what came to be called the "Era of Good Feeling." One of his lasting achievements was the Monroe Doctrine, which became a major tenet of U.S. foreign policy in the Western Hemisphere.
Family and early years
Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Monroe went to school at Campbelltown Academy and then the College of William and Mary, both in Virginia. Monroe's father, Spence Monroe, was a woodworker and tobacco farmer and mother Elizabeth Jones Monroe had significant land holdings, but little money. After graduating from William and Mary in 1776, Monroe fought in the Continental Army, serving with distinction at the Battle of Trenton, where he was shot in his left shoulder. Following his military service, he practiced law in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Monroe married Elizabeth Kortright on February 16, 1786, at the Trinity Church in New York.
Political Career
Monroe was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1782 and served in the Continental Congress (1783–1786). As a youthful politician, he joined the anti-Federalists in the Virginia Convention which ratified the Constitution, and in 1790, was elected United States Senator. As Minister to France in 1794–1796, he displayed strong sympathies for the French Revolution; later, with Robert R. Livingston and under the direction of President Thomas Jefferson, he helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase.
Monroe served as governor of Virginia from 1799 to 1802. He was minister to France again in 1803 and then minister to the Court of St. James from 1803 to 1807. He returned to the Virginia House of Delegates and was elected to another term as governor of Virginia in 1811, but he resigned a few months into the term. He then served as secretary of state from 1811 to 1814. When he was appointed to secretary of war on October 1, 1814, he stayed on as the interim secretary of state. On February 28, 1815, he was again commissioned as the permanent secretary of state, and left his position as secretary of war. Thus from October 1, 1814 to February 28, 1815, Monroe held the two cabinet posts. Monroe stayed on as secretary of state until the end of the James Madison presidency, and the following day Monroe began his term as the new president of the United States.
Presidency 1817-1825
Policies
Following the War of 1812, Monroe was elected president in the election of 1816, and re-elected in 1820. In both those elections Monroe ran nearly uncontested.
Attentive to detail, well prepared on most issues, non-partisan in spirit, and above all pragmatic, Monroe managed his presidential duties well. He made strong cabinet choices, naming a southerner, John C. Calhoun, as secretary of war, and a northerner, John Quincy Adams, as secretary of state. Only Henry Clay's refusal kept Monroe from adding an outstanding westerner. Most appointments went to deserving Republicans, but he did not try to use them to build the party's base. Indeed, he allowed the base to decay, which reduced tensions and led to the naming of his era as the "Era of Good Feeling."
To build goodwill, he made two long tours in 1817. Frequent stops allowed innumerable ceremonies of welcome and good will. The Federalist Party dwindled and eventually died out, starting with the Hartford Convention. Practically every politician belonged to the Democratic-Republican Party, but the party lost its vitality and organizational integrity. The party's Congressional caucus stopped meeting, and there were no national conventions.
Acquisition of Florida
Monroe's greatest achievements as president lay in foreign affairs. Ably supported by Adams, he made substantial territorial additions and gave American policy a distinctly national orientation. Monroe welcomed an opportunity to press Spain to cede Florida and define the boundaries of Louisiana. His chance came when General Andrew Jackson invaded Florida in 1818. In pursuit of hostile Indians, Jackson seized the posts of St. Marks and Pensacola, acts that many persons regarded as violations of congressional war powers. In the cabinet, Adams, an expansionist, urged Jackson's complete vindication, while Crawford and Calhoun demanded that he be reprimanded for exceeding his instructions.
Monroe chose a middle course—the posts were restored to Spain, but the administration accepted Jackson's explanation that his action had been justified by conditions in Florida. The incident led Spain to cede Florida and define, favorably to American claims, the boundary of the Louisiana Purchase in the Adams-Onís Treaty negotiated in 1819.
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise, also called the Compromise of 1820, was an agreement passed in 1820 between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States, involving primarily the regulation of slavery in the western territories. It prohibited slavery for all new states north of the 36°30' line, or the border of the Arkansas territory (excluding Missouri). Prior to the agreement, the House of Representatives had refused to accept this boundary and a conference committee was appointed. The United States Senate refused to concur in the amendment, and the whole measure was lost.
During the following session (1819-1820), the House passed a similar bill with an amendment introduced on January 26, 1820 by John W. Taylor of New York allowing Missouri into the union as a slave state. In the meantime, the question had been complicated by the admission in December of Alabama, a slave state (the number of slave and free states now becoming equal), and by the passage through the House (January 3, 1820) of a bill to admit Maine as a free state.
The Senate decided to connect the two measures, and passed a bill for the admission of Maine with an amendment enabling the people of Missouri to form a state constitution. Before the bill was returned to the House, a second amendment was adopted on the motion of Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois, excluding slavery from the Missouri Territory north of 36°30' (the southern boundary of Missouri), except within the limits of the proposed state of Missouri. The House of Representatives refused to accept this and a conference committee was appointed.
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine, expressed in 1823, proclaimed the United States opinion that European powers should no longer colonize the Americas or interfere with the affairs of sovereign nations located in the Americas, such as the United States of America, Mexico, and others. In return, the United States planned to stay neutral in wars between European powers and in wars between a European power and its colonies. However, if these latter type of wars were to occur in the Americas, the U.S. would view such action as hostile toward itself.
The doctrine was issued by Monroe during his seventh annual State of the Union address to Congress. It was met first with doubt, then with enthusiasm. This was a defining moment in the foreign policy of the United States.
The Monroe Doctrine states three major ideas, with one more added by President Theodore Roosevelt. First, it conveys that European countries cannot colonize in any of the Americas: North, Central, or South. Second, it enforces Washington's rule of foreign policy, in which the U.S. will only be involved in European affairs if America's rights are disturbed. Third, the U.S. will consider any attempt at colonization a threat to its national security. Roosevelt added to the doctrine, and summed up his additions with the statement, "Speak softly and carry a big stick."
Administration and Cabinet
OFFICE | NAME | TERM |
President | James Monroe | 1817–1825 |
Vice President | Daniel Tompkins | 1817–1825 |
Secretary of State | John Quincy Adams | 1817–1825 |
Secretary of the Treasury | William H. Crawford | 1817–1825 |
Secretary of War | John C. Calhoun | 1817–1825 |
Attorney General | Richard Rush | 1817 |
William Wirt | 1817–1825 | |
Postmaster General | Return Meigs | 1817–1823 |
John McLean | 1823–1825 | |
Secretary of the Navy | Benjamin Crowninshield | 1817–1818 |
John C. Calhoun | 1818–1819 | |
Smith Thompson | 1819–1823 | |
Samuel L. Southard | 1823–1825 |
Supreme Court appointments
Monroe appointed the following Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States:
- Smith Thompson – 1823
States admitted to the Union
- Mississippi – December 10, 1817
- Illinois – December 3, 1818
- Alabama – December 14, 1819
- Maine – March 15, 1820
- Missouri – August 10, 1821
Post-Presidency
Upon leaving the White House after his presidency expired on March 4, 1825, James Monroe moved to live at Monroe Hill on the grounds of the University of Virginia. This university's modern campus was originally Monroe's family farm from 1788 to 1817, but he had sold it to the new college in the first year of his presidency. He served on the Board of Visitors under Jefferson and then under the second rector and another former President James Madison, until his death.
Monroe had racked up debts during his years of public life. As a result, he was forced to sell off his Highland Plantation. Today, it is owned by the College of William and Mary, which has opened it to the public. He never recovered from his financial troubles, and his wife's poor health made matters worse. As a result, he and his wife lived in Oak Hill until Elizabeth's death on September 23, 1830.
Death
Following his wife Elizabeth's death, Monroe moved to live with his daughter Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur in New York City and died there from heart failure and tuberculosis on July 4, 1831, 55 years after the U.S. Declaration of Independence was proclaimed and five years after the death of presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. He was originally buried in New York, but he was re-interred in 1858 to the President's Circle at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.
Trivia
- Apart from George Washington and Washington, D.C., James Monroe is the only U.S. President to have had a country's capital city named after him—that of Monrovia in Liberia which was founded by the American Colonization Society, in 1822, as a haven for freed slaves.
- Monroe was the third president to die on July 4.
- Monroe was (arguably) the last president to have fought in the Revolutionary War, although Andrew Jackson served as a 13-year-old courier in the Continental Army and was taken as a prisoner of war by the British.
- In the famous painting of Washington's Delaware Crossing (also depicted on the New Jersey state quarter), Monroe is standing behind George Washington and holds the American flag.
- Monroe's daughter, Maria Monroe, was the first person ever to be married in the White House.
- In the election of 1820, Monroe received every electoral vote except one. A New Hampshire delegate casted his vote on an unknown because he wanted Washington to be the only president to be elected unanimously.
- Monroe's inauguration in 1817 was the first to be held outdoors.
- Monroe was the first president to ride on a steamboat.
- Monroe was the only president to serve in two different cabinet posts. He was secretary of state and secretary of war.
- James Monroe was the first president to tour the country.
- No one ran against Monroe when he ran for his second term in 1820.
- Monroe was the first United States senator to be elected president.
- Monroe was wounded during the Revolutionary War.
- Monroe's favorite foods were chicken, breads, and biscuits.
- The White House was still being rebuilt when he became president. On January 1, 1818, the president and his wife held a public reception marking the reopening of the White House. He sold his own furniture to the government because the White House was almost empty when he moved in. The charred remains of the mansion's interior were used to fill a pit on top of which Monroe planted his vegetable garden. Archaeologists unearthed the pit when President Gerald Ford's swimming pool was dug.
- The year he was elected, the White House was painted white.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Ammon, Harry. James Monroe: The Quest for National Identity. Charlottesville : University Press of Virginia, 1990. ISBN 0813912660
- Cunningham, Noble E., Jr. The Presidency of James Monroe (American Presidency Series). Lawrence, K.S.: University Press of Kansas, 1996. ISBN 0700607285
- Dangerfield, George. The Era of Good Feelings. Norwalk, C.T.: Easton Press, 1986.
- Dangerfield, George. The Awakening of American Nationalism: 1815 - 1828. New York: Harper & Row, 1965.
- Holmes, David L. The Faiths of the Founding Fathers. New York : Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN 9780195300925
- Holmes, David L. "The Religion of James Monroe." The Virginia Quarterly Review (Autumn 2003). Online version
External links
- White House Biography
- James Monroe Biography and Fact File
- The Presidential Home of James Monroe (College of William and Mary)
- The Papers of James Monroe at the Avalon Project
- Monroe Doctrine and related resources at the Library of Congress
- James Monroe's Health and Medical History
- James Monroe Birthplace Commission
- InfoPlease- James Monroe
- The Religion of James Monroe
Preceded by: John Walker |
United States Senator (Class 1) from Virginia 1790 – 1794 |
Succeeded by: Stevens T. Mason |
Preceded by: Gouverneur Morris |
U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary to France 1794 – 1796 |
Succeeded by: Charles Cotesworth Pinckney |
Preceded by: James Wood |
Governor of Virginia 1799 – 1802 |
Succeeded by: John Page |
Preceded by: Rufus King |
U.S. Minister to Great Britain 1803 - 1807 |
Succeeded by: William Pinkney |
Preceded by: John Tyler, Sr. |
Governor of Virginia 1811 |
Succeeded by: George William Smith |
Preceded by: Robert Smith |
United States Secretary of State April 2, 1811 – September 30, 1814; February 28, 1815 – March 3, 1817 |
Succeeded by: John Quincy Adams |
Preceded by: John Armstrong, Jr. |
United States Secretary of War 1814 – 1815 |
Succeeded by: William H. Crawford |
Preceded by: James Madison |
Democratic-Republican Party presidential nominee 1816 (won), 1820 (won) |
Succeeded by: John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, William Harris Crawford, Andrew Jackson(a) |
Preceded by: James Madison |
President of the United States March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1825 |
Succeeded by: John Quincy Adams |
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