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It was hammered out slowly, over many hours of thought and discussion. When it was finally presented to the world, it had the qualities of Monroe himself: plain and solid and durable as a slab of bronze.
Born into the Virginia aristocracy that produced four of the U.S.'s first five Presidents, Monroe had an affinity for history in the making, and he lived his life in the thick of it. As a teen-age officer in the Revolutionary Army, he was severely wounded in a heroic charge at the Battle of Trenton. He became a captain at 19, a lieutenant colonel at 21, drew from Washington a commendation as a "brave, active and sensible officer." It was characteristic of Monroe, with his gift for being in the right place at the historic moment, that at 22 he was present at the grand victory ball in Fredericksburg, Va., after Cornwallis' surrender, mingling with George Washington, Mad Anthony Wayne, Light Horse Harry Lee, Baron von Steuben, Count de Grasse and other great captains of the Revolution.
When the Congress of the Confederation met in Annapolis, Md., two years later to consider ratification of the peace treaty with Britain, young Monroe was there as a member of the Virginia delegation, along with his former law teacher Thomas Jefferson. A member of Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe served three terms in the Congress of the Confederation, was elected to the Senate at 32.
As Minister to France in the 17905, Monroe suffered his first and greatest setback: his pro-French views tangled with the Administration's policy of neutrality between France and Britain, and President Washington angrily ordered him recalled.
Washington wanted an envoy who would "promote, not thwart, the neutral policy of the Government." Monroe returned to the U.S. in disgrace, and it looked as if his public career might be finished, but he was liked and admired in his home state, and within a few years after his recall he bounced back as Governor of Virginia.* In 1803 Monroe's old friend Jefferson sent him to France as a special envoy to help negotiate the U.S. right to navigation on the Mississippi, a cause dear to Monroe's heart. Once again in the thick of history, he arrived in Paris just in time to take part in the negotiation of the Louisiana Purchase.
"Era of Good Feeling." In what came to be called the "Virginia Dynasty," Madison succeeded Jefferson and Monroe succeeded Madison almost as a matter of course. Madison served as Jefferson's Secretary of State and Monroe as Madison's.
Amid the military disasters of 1814, when the British briefly occupied Washington and set fire to the executive mansion, Secretary of State Monroe took over the War Department from bumbling John Armstrong, achieved the rare distinction of holding two top Cabinet posts at once. In 1816 he was elected President with the inevitability of a crown prince succeeding to the throne in a stable monarchy.
Monroe was a fervent believer in national unity. Shortly after his inauguration he set off on a national tour — a strenuous undertaking in those days — using his enormous personal popularity to help bind the nation