Scott Harris, Executive Director of the James Monroe Museum, likes to compare former president James Monroe to the fictional character Forrest Gump. Much like the titular character portrayed by Tom Hanks in the 1994 film, James Monroe seemed to have a knack for being, almost serendipitously around significant historical events throughout his life. As a young soldier in the American Revolution, Monroe was with Washington as he famously crossed the Delaware River. He is portrayed, inaccurately, as holding the American flag in Washington's boat in the famous painting by Emanuel Leutez, Washington Crossing the Delaware. He later can be seen with a bandaged arm in John Trumbull's iconic The Capture of the Hessians at Trenton, After the war, he joined the Continental Congress. During the debate over ratification of the Constitution, Monroe stood with anti-federalists, but was willing to support the Constitution if it was amended to include a Bill of Rights. In the end, his argument carried the day. Early in the new republic, Monroe served as a Senator from Virginia. It was during this time that he, a staunch Democratic-Republican clashed with the leader of the Federalists, Alexander Hamilton. Fans of the Broadway hit Hamilton will be interested to know that, although he isn't a character in the musical, it was Monroe that was tasked with investigating accusations of corruption that would lead to the discovery of the Hamilton-Reynolds Affair immortalized in the songs "We Know" and "The Reynolds Pamphlet". After a few years in the Senate, he was appointed by President Washington to be his ambassador to France. It was at this time that he witnessed the dysfunction and chaos of the French Revolution. His time in France would be the first step in a long and distinguished career as a diplomat. After briefly serving as the Governor of Virginia, Monroe once again went on to serve his nation abroad. President Thomas Jefferson dispatched Monroe to France to settle a growing dispute between France and the United States over access to the Mississippi River. It was at this time that James Monroe would personally negotiate the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the United States. The next year, Monroe was present to witness the coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte as Emperor of France. During the presidency of James Madison, Monroe served as both Secretary of State and Secretary of War at the same time. In 1816, Monroe was the obvious choice to be the Democratic-Republican nominee for president. He won the Election of 1816 in landslide making him the 4th and final member of the so-called Virginia Dynasty that dominated the first 30 years of presidential politics.
By the time he reached New England, once the hotbed of the Federalist Party, Monroe, a Democratic-Republican, was drawing bigger and bigger crowds. The Federalist Party was quickly fading away and with it the staunch political battles that defined the early republic. In describing Monroe's visit and the sense of patriotic nationalism that had replaced the old political divisions, a Boston newspaper proclaimed that the United States was now experiencing an "Era of Good Feelings." The name stuck and came to define Monroe's presidency. James Monroe was an effective, though not a handson, President. He surrounded himself with some of the best political minds of the era and his cabinet rivals that of any president. John Quincy Adams at State, William Crawford at Treasury, John C. Calhoun at War, and William Wirt at Treasury, represented a diversity of ideas, experience, and regional interests. These men were also all political rivals. Monroe was able to effectively manage a cabinet full of strong personalities and even stronger political ambitions to do the nation's business. It makes perfect sense that Monroe wouldn't be the most active and involved leader. As mentioned earlier, during the debate over ratification of the Constitution, Monroe stood with the anti-federalists who opposed the creation of the new government and with it it the creation of the presidency. Monroe, like many Democratic-Republicans, had real fear about the centralization of power in the federal government. While many politicians who express such concerns, abandon their principles once they are the one in power, Monroe seems to be consistent in his beliefs.
When Missouri applied for statehood, Northern Congressman would only agree to allow its admission if slavery was not allowed to survive in the territory. They supported an amendment submitted by James Tallmadge of New York that would called for the gradual emancipation of the slaves currently in the territory. Southern lawmakers cried foul. At the time of the debate, there were 11 free states and 11 slave states. Monroe, an inactive president, allowed for Congress to settle the debate rather than throwing himself into the fray. In the end, a deal was brokered that temporarily settled the issue by kicking the can down the road for future generations to deal with. Missouri was added as a slave state. Maine, which previously was a disconnected northern county of Massachusetts, entered the union as a free state. Finally, the southern border of Missouri was henceforth to be the northern border of slavery. The institution would be banned in any future state that joined the union from the territory acquired as part of the Louisiana Purchase north of Missouri. The Missouri Compromise proved that, while the partisan disagreements of the early republic had indeed fallen by the wayside during the Era of Good Feelings, they were quickly being replaced by divisions even more alarming: sectionalism. There were other issues that threatened to undermine the good feelings of the Monroe presidency. Like every generation to come, Americans in the early 1800s had a confounding problem: Florida. Florida was, at least in name, a possession of Spain. However, the Spanish exercised little control over the swamp covered peninsula. Seminole Indians, often times with the encouragement of British privateers, raided American settlements in Georgia. Monroe dispatched General Andrew Jackson to invade Florida to deal with the Seminole threat. While in Florida, Jackson exceeded his orders, arrested British citizens and hanged them, before seizing the poorly defended Spanish fort at Pensacola. Jackson's reckless actions had created a international incident between the United States, a powerful Native American tribe, and two European powers. Fortunately, Monroe's outstanding Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, diffused the situation and convinced the Spanish that it would be in their best interest to sell Florida to the United States and establish a defined border between Spanish colonies and the United States south of the Louisiana territory. American policy toward European powers regarding territory in the New World would go on to be the defining characteristic of the Monroe legacy. During Monroe's first term, numerous former Spanish colonies throughout Central and South America gained their independence. Much to the dismay of European powers, the President quickly recognized the legitimacy of the new governments of Latin America. In 1823, midway through the President's second term in office, he delivered his annual message to Congress. Like every president of the era, the message was a written and delivered to Congress, far different from the primetime speech we know today with all of its pomp and circumstance. The message included a brief statement written by Monroe's Secretary of State, John Qunicy Adams. "The occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers." Essentially, the statement claimed that it was in the best interest of the United States to see that all independent nations in the Americas remained sovereign. Furthermore, if European powers tried to control or oppress the nations of Central and South America, their actions would be viewed as having an "unfriendly disposition toward the United States." The statement was met with mixed reviews throughout Europe and the Americas, but for all practical purposes the United States was claiming that the Western Hemisphere was off limits to European involvement and it would take measures to ensure that other world powers stayed out of its backyard. It wouldn't be until the 1850s, long after Monroe and most of his administration had passed away, that the term "Monroe Doctrine" was coined. Over the years, the doctrine would be added to and modified. Beginning in the 1890s and continuing until modern times, the United States has used economic, political, and at times military power, to maintain order and stability in the Western Hemisphere. The doctrine was particularly popular during the age of imperialism in which various administrations used it to more or less do what they wanted in Latin America. It is unlikely that Monroe or his cabinet could have imagined the influence a simple written statement issued in 1823 would have on American foreign policy for generations to come.
In 1824, Monroe honored the tradition established by George Washington and elected not to seek a third term as president. As he stepped aside, men of great ambition rose up to take his place; many of them from his own cabinet. Four members of the Monroe administration initially sought the presidency in 1824: John Q. Adams, William Crawford, John C. Calhoun, and Smith Thompson. Though Calhoun and Thompson, would eventually drop out, they were replaced in the race by two far more formidable candidates: Speaker of the House Henry Clay and General Andrew Jackson. Why were there so many candidates? Because, after all, this was the Era of Good Feelings and there was only one political party. The general election was tantamount to one of today's primary campaigns. 1824 was different from prior presidential contests. Unlike previous generations of American civic leaders, these new candidates were politicians, through and through. It was election of 1824 that would prove that the Era of Good Feelings was, in fact, over.
James Monroe left office in March 1825 after welcoming President John Quincy Adams to the White House. He retired to his home in Virginia. At the time, Congress didn't allocate funds to pay staff for the President. Monroe, like other presidents of the era, paid for most of the White House's expenses out of his own pocket, amassing tremendous debt. This caused Monroe to sell away much of his property after his time in office. Eventually, in poor health and financially insolvent, Monroe moved to New York City to live with his daughter and her family. Fittingly, the former president passed away on July 4, 1831 joining John Adams and Thomas Jefferson as the 3rd president to die on the anniversary of America's independence. James Monroe was the last of the founding generation to serve as President of the United States. As a young man he had fought alongside Washington to win America's independence. Wounded in battle, with a bullet lodged in his arm, he literally carried a piece of the revolution with him for the rest of his life. A skilled legislator, diplomat, and cabinet secretary, Monroe, like others of his generation, served their nation in whatever capacity they were asked. Though they were men of great ambition, prone to errors and missteps, they were far different from the professional politicians that would replace them on the national scene. James Monroe, like those presidents before him, was a statesman. A caretaker of the republic, content to lead from a position of quiet strength. Such leadership is rare in today's America, but desperately needed.
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