James Monroe (original) (raw)

James Monroe

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Order: 5th President
Term of Office: March 4, 1817 - March 4, 1825
Followed: 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, New York
First Lady: Elizabeth Kortwright Monroe
Occupation: lawyer
Political Party: Democratic-Republican
Vice President: Daniel D. Tompkins

James Monroe (April 28, 1758 - July 4, 1831) was the fifth (1817-1825) President of the United States. He is credited with the development of the Monroe Doctrine.

Early years

His parents Spence Monroe (c. 1727-1774) and Elizabeth Jones (born c. 1729) were well-to-do farmers.

In 1802, then-president Thomas Jefferson sent Monroe to Paris to assist in the negotiations of the Louisiana Purchase.

Presidency

Following the War of 1812, James Monroe was elected president in the election of 1816, and re-elected in 1820. Monroe, the last American Revolutionary War veteran to serve as president, was almost uncontested in his two elections.

Monroe's presidency was later labeled "The Era of Good Feeling", in part because partisan politics were almost nonexistent. The Federalist Party had died out, and the rift between the Democratic Party and the Whig Party had not yet happened. Practically every politician belonged to the Democratic-Republican Party.

Monroe is probably best known for the Monroe Doctrine, which he delivered in his message to Congress on December 2, 1823. In it, he proclaimed the Americas should be free from future European colonization and free from European interference in sovereign countries' affairs. It further stated United States's intention to stay neutral in European wars and wars between European powers and their colonies but to consider any new colonies or interference with independent countries in the Americas as hostile acts toward the United States.

Places named for James Monroe

Supreme Court appointments