#5: Monroe, James

James Monroe
April 28, 1758 – July 4, 1831

Man oh man. This drawing made me mad!
It started out as a charcoal subtractive drawing,
which I usually have a hard time with.
Then I used some conte crayon.
Then I gave up, because Mr. Monroe
started to look wonky.

Hello December! James Monroe brings me to my second “M” president in a row, which means that I was stuck browsing the “M” volume for two weeks. On the plus side, the "M" volume is the home of Michigan. I digress... on to Mr. Monroe:

• Monroe has a whole doctrine named after him. Basically he told European countries to back off and cease their colonizing efforts in the Americas.
  
• He was "tall and rawboned, and had a military bearing." He was yet another Virginian (yawn).
  
• As a boy, Monroe had to walk to school through the forest. "He often carried a rifle and shot game on the way." Later, Monroe dropped out of college to join the army during the Revolutionary War. He saw lots of combat action and became an accomplished army officer.
  
• Monroe became president after more than 40 years of public service! Senator, governor, ambassador, secretary of state, secretary of war... actually he was secretary of state and secretary of war at the same time for a stretch because the original secretary of war under Madison was forced to resign in 1814 for "neglect of duty"-- for letting Washington burn upon the advance of British troops (see Madison, James and War of 1812).
  
• America was growing, growing, growing under Monroe's presidency. "Monroe sent General Andrew Jackson on a military acquisition of Florida from Spain." (World Book includes a ridiculous illustration of a dude in knickers handing over a pie-sized Florida to another dude in knickers.) World Book omits that Jackson was also charged with preventing Spanish Florida from becoming a refuge for runaway slaves. World Book does say that Jackson, upon Monroe's orders, raised a militia and put down a Seminole Indian uprising in Georgia (or the First Seminole War). Jackson chased the Seminoles into the Everglades.
• In 1818, Monroe also oversaw the Missouri Compromise: "This law permitted slavery in Missouri, but banned it from the rest of the Louisiana Purchase region north of the southern boundary of Missouri. Monroe avoided interfering with [the Congressional] debates. But he made it known that he would not sign a bill placing any special restraints on Missouri's admission to the Union." The Missouri Compromise figured prominently in this sad story, several years later.
• During Monroe's presidency, "the first public high school in the United States opened its doors in Boston, Mass., in 1821." I am a product of a public high school.
  
• In the White House, the first lady, partly due to her ill health, "received only visitors to whom she had sent invitations. [How topical!] She refused to pay calls, sending her elder daughter . . . in her place. Soon all Washington buzzed about the 'snobbish' Mrs. Monroe."
• After Monroe left office in 1825, there were no clear successors to the position and four candidates duked it out for the presidency. Monroe's wife died in 1830. Like his friend and mentor Thomas Jefferson, Monroe experienced financial distress in his old age. He moved to New York City to live with his daughter and her husband. And he died there on July 4, 1831. The third president (after Jefferson and Adams) to die on our country's independence day! Spooky.