5.JAMES MONROE (I Feel Good)
Born: April 28, 1858, Westmoreland County, Virginia
Died: July 4, 1831, New York, New York
Term: March 4, 1817- March 4, 1825
Political Party: Democratic- Republican
Vice President: Daniel Tompkins
First Lady: Elizabeth Kortright Monroe
Before the Presidency: Monroe, like the Virginia Presidents before him, grew up in fairly affluent means. His parents died when he was in his teens and he was taken in as a ward to his Uncle, who would be quite an influence on the young Monroe.
Monroe attended the College of William and Mary in 1774 and it was there where he got into some mischief with fellow students in support of the Revolutionary War. They robbed the Governor’s Palace and gave the arms to the Virginia Militia; thus Monroe had a front row ticket to the war against Britain.
As such, he served as an officer with distinction in the Continental Army until 1779, after which he joined the Virginia Militia as a Colonel. It was there where he connected with major leaders like then Governor Thomas Jefferson, who commissioned Monroe as a spy.
His political career started right after the war, using Thomas Jefferson as his mentor. He was elected to the Virginia Assembly in 1782 and joined the Continental Congress a year later. He wanted to expand powers to the Congress as well as organizing governments in the Western territories.
He was certainly somewhat of an independent character voting against ratification of the Constitution, his biggest beef being that Senators should be elected directly and not appointed (he would finally get his wish with the 17th Amendment in 1913). He also wanted a strong bill of rights, something that Jefferson supported, and Madison made true in 1791. He ran for the House of Representatives against James Madison in 1789 and lost, though they would remain amicable throughout. As it was, Monroe would be appointed to the Senate in 1790 and he, Madison, and Jefferson would form something of a friendly alliance.
President Washington was also aware of the young Monroe and he appointed him as minister to France in 1794. It was an eventful two years as Monroe was able to procure the release of Thomas Paine, who had the audacity to speak out against King Louis XIV. Alas, the French Revolution happened right after, and Washington had to recall Monroe.
Monroe returned to Virginia to practice law and was elected Governor of Virginia in 1799. He worked for the election of Jefferson and was an advocate for public education (Gee, I like him already). In 1803, President Jefferson sent Monroe to France as an envoy for the Louisiana Purchase. That same year, he was appointed as Minister to Great Britain, with a stint as an envoy to Spain in between. In 1806, Monroe signed an agreement with Britain resolving some outstanding issues, but didn’t address the issue of impressment, something both President Jefferson and Secretary Madison insisted on. Monroe had seen it as a first step, while the other two (probably correctly) simply didn’t trust the British. It was a temporary setback for Monroe, but it didn’t alter the friendship between the three powerhouses.
In 1808, there was a draft within the Democratic- Republican party for Monroe to run against Madison, who Jefferson favored to succeed him. He accepted the draft but never really wanted to battle against his friend, noting they differed only on some foreign policy.
So, he was out politics briefly until 1811 when he again became Governor of Virginia. That lasted a whole three months as President Madison enlisted him to become Secretary of State.
And it as a tense time to be Secretary of State to be sure as this was the period of the War of 1812. It was a controversial war to be sure and Madison’s Secretary of War quit as a result. Monroe would fill in on a temporary basis on two occasions during his stint as Secretary of State and he is credited with the comeback of sorts by the military towards the second half of the war. Monroe was also something of a hero as he oversaw the evacuation of Washington as the British burned the city down. Monroe returned to the city after the British had left and Madison put him in charge of its defenses.
So, while Madison’s popularity continued to sink like a bowling ball, Monroe’s popularity rose, putting him in good position for the 1816 nomination.
Summary of offices held:
1783-1786: Congress of the American Federation
1790-1794: US Senator
1794-1796: Minister to France
1799-1802: Governor of Virginia
1803-1807: Minister to the United Kingdom
1811: Governor of Virginia
1811-1817: Secretary of State
1814-1815: Interim Secretary of War
What was going on: The Seminole War, Panic of 1819, Missouri Compromise, Annexation of Florida, the Monroe Doctrine,
Scandals within the administration: The Corrupt bargain (though that was more of a legislative scandal)
Why he was a good President: Though it has been abused at time, particularly in the Twentieth Century but especially during the Spanish- American War, his Monroe Doctrine has stood the test of time. Latin American nations saw the doctrine as a way of ensuring their own independence, and, when properly enforced, that’s exactly what it did, as Monroe intended. Other times, well…
Why he was a bad President: He probably should have taken a more active role after the Panic of 1819. No, I don’t mean he should have created a New Deal of sorts (for one thing, something like that wouldn’t have played in Monroe’s time), but he could have done more to alleviate the pressures the banks were going through at the time. Also, as mentioned, the Doctrine, though full of good intentions, opened the door for quite a few abuses by future Presidents starting, possibly, with Jackson, and definitely with James Polk and his Mexican- American war.
What could have saved his Presidency: A steadier hand during the Panic of 1819 would have been nice. Also, he should have pulled a Truman ala General MacArthur and fired Andrew Jackson’s ass.
What could have destroyed his Presidency: For starters, had the fallout from the Seminole War have not been so seamless. Monroe was known for his great diplomatic skills and it no doubt saved him from another war. Also had the panic of 1819 exploded into something as devastating as the Great Depression a century later. Monroe didn’t do much about the Panic but he probably did do more than, say, Herbert Hoover.
Election of 1816: Monroe was well positioned for the Democratic- Republican nomination but there was some hesitancy within the party of yet another Virginian in the White House. Some of them threw their support behind William Crawford of Georgia, another member of Madison’s cabinet. He enjoyed a lot of congressional support, but he lacked the national constituency that Monroe enjoyed. In the end, Monroe won the nomination by a relatively close margin.
By now, the Federalists were more or less on life support, and they settled for the always dependable Rufus King with John Howard as his running mate. As such, it wasn’t much of an election as Monroe and running mate Daniel Tompkins all but ran away with the electoral vote, King only winning three of the nineteen states.
First term: President Monroe began his term with a tour of New England, the one area where maybe he wasn’t so popular. He emphasized unity and it was later considered the ushering in of the era of good feelings. Things were relatively quiet until late 1817 when there was a Seminole uprising in Florida. Good ol’ Andrew Jackson, man of great restraint that he was, went against the President’s wishes and drove the Seminoles into Spanish Florida and capturing the Capital, causing an international incident in the process. In the end , Jackson was reprimanded, and Pensacola was returned to Spain. One thing did come out of this however, as Spain would peacefully cede Florida to the United States in 1819.
Monroe also had to deal with the nation’s first real financial crisis, known as the Panic of 1819. Thanks to conservative polices of the Second Bank of the United States, the financial strife lasted for four years.
It was also during this term that slavery would become a pressing issue with a debate over the admission of Missouri. Missouri, geographically speaking, straddled the line between the pro-slavery south and the abolitionist north, sort of like Maryland, Delaware (slave states), and Kentucky (a free state). In the end, the Missouri Compromise would be passed which made Missouri a slave state (Maine was also admitted as a free state) and the status of future states would be decided by the 36 degree, 30 line.
Election of 1820: I think it’s safe to say President Monroe had an easy time with it when it came to re-election time. He remained popular within the ranks of his party and was a shoo in for re-nomination as was his running mate, Daniel Tompkins. Having said that, the nomination never officially happened but Monroe and Tompkins would represent the party on the ticket anyway.
Meanwhile, the Federalists, all but dead, didn’t even bother to nominate a candidate, thus Monroe ran unopposed, the last time that would ever happen in American History. Even so, he couldn’t garner a unanimous electoral vote, even with John Adams coming out of retirement to vote for Monroe. One elector from New Hampshire cast his vote for Adams’ son, John Quincy Adams.
Second Term: The big issue as Monroe’s second term started was the depression that resulted from the Panic of 1819. As it was, President Monroe basically followed the Jeffersonian laissez- faire approach and the market, fortunately, took care of itself. It didn’t prevent future financial panics however as a more notorious panic lay just a decade and a half away.
President Monroe fared better on the foreign policy front. With most of the Spanish colonies on the verge of Independence, President Monroe wanted to ensure that European nations wouldn’t try and form new colonies in the Americas, thus what would become known as the Monroe Doctrine was passed in 1823. It promised that any intervention by a European nation on a Sovereign nation in the Western Hemisphere would be considered as an attack on the United States. It also pledged that the US would not interfere with any colonies still controlled by a European Nation. It is a doctrine that has been used, for good and bad, by a number of Presidents, most recently by Ronald Reagan.
There was speculation that Monroe might run for a third term, but he decided against it, noting that the competition would be much more fierce. By this time the shadow that would be Andrew Jackson was coming to the forefront as was the volatile John Calhoun.
Post Presidency: Monroe would not be able to enjoy the long period of retirement that his three predecessors enjoyed. Indeed, he would die five years before his friend and predecessor, James Madison.
Still, he was able to serve on the Board of Visitors at the University of Virginia and, in 1829, served with the Virginia Constitutional Convention.
In 1830, upon the death of his wife, he moved to New York City to live with his daughter and son-in law. It was there where he took ill for good and he would become the third President to die on the Fouth of July, just five years after Jefferson and Adams.
Odd notes: Monroe once defended himself with fire tongs during a disagreement with the Treasury Secretary
Monroe has a World Capital named after him, Monrovia, Liberia.
Final Summary: You can argue that Monroe was the luckiest of all the Presidents. Though he did have to deal with a financial crisis, he didn’t have to endure any major wars save for Andrew Jackson’s little misadventure. His era of good feelings tours made quite an impact on the general populace and, with the possible exception of the Missouri issue, didn’t seem to have to deal with a hostile congress.
And maybe it was because Monroe was so good at the art of compromise, maybe a little too good. The liberal in me wants to dock him points on not taking a tougher stand against slavery, but then again, he owned something like 200 slaves himself, and, let’s face it, he was a product of the times. And he’ll always be remembered for the Monroe Doctrine (his idea but actually written by John Quincy Adams), which at least gave the Latin American cover from other nations, save the United States themselves. So, yes, he was a fairly effective President, and he had a great vision when it came to Foreign affairs.
Domestically though, uh, not so much.
Overall rating: B-
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/james-monroe
https://millercenter.org/president/monroe