President James Monroe

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: LCJQ-JT3
• Initiatory (LDS): 22 Aug 1877, SGEOR

Notes:

James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States (1817–1825) a n d the last President from the Founding Fathers.

On New Year’s Day, 1825, at the last of his annual White House reception s , President James Monroe made a pleasing impression upon a Virginia la d y who shook his hand:

“He is tall and well formed. His dress plain and in the old style…. Hi s m anner was quiet and dignified. From the frank, honest expression of h is e ye … I think he well deserves the encomium passed upon him by the gr eat J efferson, who said, ‘Monroe was so honest that if you turned his so ul ins ide out there would not be a spot on it.’ ”

Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1758, Monroe attended the Coll e ge of William and Mary, fought with distinction in the Continental Arm y , and practiced law in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

As a youthful politician, he joined the anti-Federalists in the Virgin i a Convention which ratified the Constitution, and in 1790, an advocat e o f Jeffersonian policies, was elected United States Senator. As Minist er t o France in 1794-1796, he displayed strong sympathies for the Frenc h caus e; later, with Robert R. Livingston, he helped negotiate the Louis iana Pu rchase.

His ambition and energy, together with the backing of President Madiso n , made him the Republican choice for the Presidency in 1816. With litt l e Federalist opposition, he easily won re-election in 1820.

Monroe made unusually strong Cabinet choices, naming a Southerner, Joh n C . Calhoun, as Secretary of War, and a northerner, John Quincy Adams , as S ecretary of State. Only Henry Clay’s refusal kept Monroe from addi ng an o utstanding Westerner.

Early in his administration, Monroe undertook a goodwill tour. At Bosto n , his visit was hailed as the beginning of an “Era of Good Feelings.” U nf ortunately these “good feelings” did not endure, although Monroe, hi s pop ularity undiminished, followed nationalist policies.

Across the facade of nationalism, ugly sectional cracks appeared. A pain f ul economic depression undoubtedly increased the dismay of the peopl e o f the Missouri Territory in 1819 when their application for admissio n t o the Union as a slave state failed. An amended bill for gradually el imin ating slavery in Missouri precipitated two years of bitter debate i n Cong ress.

The Missouri Compromise bill resolved the struggle, pairing Missour i a s a slave state with Maine, a free state, and barring slavery north a nd w est of Missouri forever.

In foreign affairs Monroe proclaimed the fundamental policy that bears h i s name, responding to the threat that the more conservative government s i n Europe might try to aid Spain in winning back her former Latin Amer ica n colonies. Monroe did not begin formally to recognize the young sist er r epublics until 1822, after ascertaining that Congress would vote app ropri ations for diplomatic missions. He and Secretary of State John Quin cy Ada ms wished to avoid trouble with Spain until it had ceded the Flori das, a s was done in 1821.

Great Britain, with its powerful navy, also opposed reconquest of Lati n A merica and suggested that the United States join in proclaiming “hand s of f.” Ex-Presidents Jefferson and Madison counseled Monroe to accept t he of fer, but Secretary Adams advised, “It would be more candid … to avo w ou r principles explicitly to Russia and France, than to come in as a c ock-b oat in the wake of the British man-of-war.”

Monroe accepted Adams’s advice. Not only must Latin America be left alon e , he warned, but also Russia must not encroach southward on the Pacifi c c oast. “... the American continents,” he stated, “by the free and inde pend ent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth n ot t o be considered as subjects for future colonization by any Europea n Power .” Some 20 years after Monroe died in 1831, this became known a s the Monr oe Doctrine.

James married Elizabeth Kortright on 16 Feb 1786 in Trinity Church Parish, Manhattan, New York, New York, United States. Elizabeth (daughter of Captain Lawrence Kortright and Hannah Aspinwall) was born on 30 Jun 1768 in New York City, New York, New York, United States; died on 23 Sep 1830 in Oak Hill, Fairfax, Virginia, United States; was buried in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond City, Virginia, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: 2MPP-GLB
• Initiatory (LDS): 24 Apr 1998, SEATT

Other Events and Attributes:

• Initiatory (LDS): Not Needed
• FamilySearch ID: LRS4-CGT

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: 2MPP-PQZ
• Initiatory (LDS): 4 Jun 1998, SEATT