James Monroe

James Monroe
Portrait by Samuel Morse c. 1819
5th President of the United States
In office March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825
Vice President	Daniel D. Tompkins
Preceded by	James Madison
Succeeded by	John Quincy Adams
7th United States Secretary of State
In office April 6, 1811 – March 4, 1817
President	James Madison
Preceded by	Robert Smith
Succeeded by	John Quincy Adams
8th United States Secretary of War
In office September 27, 1814 – March 2, 1815
President	James Madison
Preceded by	John Armstrong Jr.
Succeeded by	William H. Crawford
12th and 16th Governor of Virginia
In office January 16, 1811 – April 2, 1811
Preceded by	John Tyler Sr.
Succeeded by	George William Smith
In office December 28, 1799 – December 1, 1802
Preceded by	James Wood
Succeeded by	John Page
4th United States Minister to the United Kingdom
In office August 17, 1803 – October 7, 1807
President	Thomas Jefferson
Preceded by	Rufus King
Succeeded by	William Pinkney
5th United States Minister to France
In office August 15, 1794 – December 9, 1796
President	George Washington
Preceded by	Gouverneur Morris
Succeeded by	Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
United States Senator from Virginia
In office November 9, 1790 – May 27, 1794
Preceded by	John Walker
Succeeded by	Stevens Thomson Mason
Delegate from Virginia to the Congress of the Confederation
In office November 3, 1783 – November 7, 1786
Preceded by	Constituency established
Succeeded by	Henry Lee III
Personal details
Born	(1758-04-28)April 28, 1758 Monroe Hall, Virginia, British America
Died	July 4, 1831(1831-07-04) (aged 73) New York City, U.S.
Resting place	Hollywood Cemetery
Political party	Democratic-Republican
Spouse	Elizabeth Kortright ​ ​ (m. 1786; died 1830)​
Relations	Joseph Jones (uncle) James Monroe (nephew)
Children	3, including Eliza and Maria
Education	College of William & Mary
Occupation	Politician lawyer
Signature
Military service
Branch/service	Continental Army Virginia militia
Years of service	1775–1777 (Army) 1777–1780 (Militia)
Rank	Lieutenant (Army) Major (Army) Colonel (Militia)
Unit	3rd Virginia Regiment
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War New York and New Jersey campaign Battle of Trenton (WIA) Philadelphia campaign Valley Forge Battle of Monmouth

James Monroe (/mənˈroʊ/ mən-ROH; April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825, a member of the Democratic-Republican Party. He was the last Founding Father to serve as president as well as the last president of the Virginia dynasty. His presidency coincided with the Era of Good Feelings, concluding the First Party System era of American politics. He issued the Monroe Doctrine, a policy of limiting European colonialism in the Americas. Monroe previously served as governor of Virginia, a member of the United States Senate, U.S. ambassador to France and Britain, the seventh secretary of state, and the eighth secretary of war.

During the American Revolutionary War, he served in the Continental Army. Monroe studied law under Thomas Jefferson from 1780 to 1783 and subsequently served as a delegate to the Continental Congress as well as a delegate to the Virginia Ratifying Convention. He opposed the ratification of the United States Constitution. In 1790, Monroe won election to the Senate where he became a leader of the Democratic-Republican Party. He left the Senate in 1794 to serve as President George Washington's ambassador to France but was recalled by Washington in 1796. Monroe won the election as Governor of Virginia in 1799 and strongly supported Jefferson's candidacy in the 1800 presidential election.

As President Jefferson's special envoy, Monroe helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase, through which the United States nearly doubled in size. Monroe fell out with his longtime friend James Madison after Madison rejected the Monroe–Pinkney Treaty that Monroe negotiated with Britain. He unsuccessfully challenged Madison for the Democratic-Republican nomination in the 1808 presidential election, but he joined Madison's administration as Secretary of State in 1811. During the later stages of the War of 1812, Monroe simultaneously served as Madison's Secretary of State and Secretary of War. Monroe's wartime leadership established him as Madison's heir apparent, and he easily defeated Federalist candidate Rufus King in the 1816 presidential election.

During Monroe's tenure as president, the Federalist Party collapsed as a national political force and Monroe was re-elected, virtually unopposed, in 1820. As president, he signed the Missouri Compromise, which admitted Missouri as a slave state and banned slavery from territories north of the 36°30′ parallel. In foreign affairs, Monroe and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams favored a policy of conciliation with Britain and a policy of expansionism against the Spanish Empire. In the 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty with Spain, the United States secured Florida and established its western border with New Spain. In 1823, Monroe announced the United States' opposition to any European intervention in the recently independent countries of the Americas with the Monroe Doctrine, which became a landmark in American foreign policy. Monroe was a member of the American Colonization Society which supported the colonization of Africa by freed slaves, and Liberia's capital of Monrovia is named in his honor.

Following his retirement in 1825, Monroe was plagued by financial difficulties and died on July 4, 1831, in New York City—sharing a distinction with Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson of dying on the anniversary of U.S. independence. Historians have generally ranked him as an above-average president.