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JAMES MONROE

James Monroe was the fifth president of the USA. He was born in 1758 at Westmoreland County, Virginia and died in 1831. He entered William and Mary College, but left it in 1776 to enter the army. He was present at Trenton, Brandywine, Monmouth, etc., and in 1782 was already a member of the Virginia Assembly. He was soon a member of the State Council, and a delegate to the Continental Congress. In the Ratifying Convention of 1788, he ardently upheld the Anti-Federalist side. As US Senator from 1790 to 1794, envoy to France from 1794 to 1796, and Governor of Virginia from 1799 to 1802, he was naturally a Republican and an exponent of Jefferson's views. President Jefferson sent him in 1803 as additional envoy to France, where he helped Livingston to negotiate the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Thence he was sent as Minister to London, where he remained until 1807.

He had just commenced another term as Governor in 1811, when he was appointed Secretary of State. This office he held until 1817, combining with it in 1814 to 1815 the War portfolio. As Republican candidate for President in 1816, Monroe received 183 electoral votes, and in 1820 he had almost no opposition; the eight years of his administrations are in fact embalmed in American history as the so-called 'era of good feeling'. His Cabinet included John Quincy Adams in the State Department, Crawford Treasury, John Calhoun War, and Wirt Attorney-General. The period is marked by the acquisition of Florida, the Seminole War, Missouri Compromise, seaboard defence policy, the visit of Lafayette, and the Monroe Doctrine.
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