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Share this page Follow Ballotpedia. What's on your ballot? Jump to: navigation , search. This page was current at the end of the official's last term in office covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates. James Monroe. Categories : presidential candidate presidential candidate U. Voter information What's on my ballot? Where do I vote? How do I register to vote?
How do I request a ballot? When Republicans in Congress caucused to choose their presidential nominee, they selected Monroe by a vote of 65 to Tompkins to run as vice-president. The Federalists, who had all but disappeared as a political entity in the aftermath of the War of , did not formally nominate a presidential candidate. Federalist opposition to the war and public perceptions of the party as unpatriotic and possibly treasonous led most members to abandon the party name altogether.
The opposition candidate with whom old-time Federalists identified and informally endorsed was Rufus King of New York, who had had a long and distinguished public career.
Before the election, a few of King's supporters restated Monroe's diplomatic failures, but few newspapers openly criticized Monroe or suggested that King would make a better President.
In fact, Monroe's popularity carried the day. He was respected as the "last framer" of the Constitution, even though he had opposed its ratification. Supporters also painted him as the man who had fought alongside General Washington and as the last of the Revolutionary generation to be President of the United States.
King won only three states: Connecticut, Delaware, and Massachusetts. The total Electoral College vote came in at for Monroe and 34 for King. In , he helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the U. As president, he acquired Florida, and also dealt with the contentious issue of slavery in new states joining the Union with the Missouri Compromise.
He cut his college studies short in to join the Continental Army and fight for independence from Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War He was wounded at the Battle of Trenton, New Jersey, in , and was with General George Washington and his troops at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, during the difficult winter of to During his time with the army, Monroe became acquainted with Thomas Jefferson , then the governor of Virginia.
In , Monroe began studying law under Jefferson, who would become his political mentor and friend. Following his military service, Monroe embarked on a career in politics.
The couple had two daughters and a son who died as an infant. While in Congress, Monroe supported the efforts of fellow Virginia politician and the future fourth U. However, once written, Monroe felt the document gave too much power to the government and did not sufficiently protect individual rights.
Senate , representing Virginia. As a senator, Monroe sided with Madison, then a U. In , Monroe joined forces with the two men to found the Democratic-Republican Party, which opposed Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists who were fighting for increased federal power. In , President George Washington appointed Monroe as minister to France, in an effort to help improve relations with that nation. At the time, France and Great Britain were at war. Monroe, who was critical of the treaty, was released from his post by Washington in Monroe resumed his political career in , when he became governor of Virginia.
He held this office for three years until President Thomas Jefferson requested that Monroe return to France to help negotiate the purchase of the port of New Orleans. Monroe and the U. Livingston, did not have time to gain presidential approval for such a large purchase.
Instead, they approved and signed the Louisiana Purchase agreement themselves in and effectively doubled the size of the United States. Monroe, who garnered acclaim for the Louisiana Purchase, then became the minister to Great Britain and drafted a treaty that would help strengthen the bonds between Britain and the U. In , still angry about how his treaty was handled by Jefferson and Madison, Monroe ran for president against Madison. With Jefferson now occupying the Presidential Mansion, Monroe was tapped to aid negotiations for the Louisiana Purchase, before he took over as minister to Great Britain until Following another brief stint as Virginia governor, Monroe was appointed President Madison's secretary of state in April Monroe assumed the additional responsibilities of secretary of war during the latter stages of the War of , making him the only person in U.
Following the custom set by President Washington of only serving two terms, Madison decided not to run for a third term in , paving the way for Monroe to be the Democratic-Republican candidate. With little opposition from the now-fading Federalist Party, Monroe became the fifth president of the United States. He began his presidency with a tour of the northern states, during which time a Boston newspaper described Monroe's reception as an "Era of Good Feelings.
The declaration was more than media hype. The United States could claim a victory in the War of because of the favorable peace treaty. The nation's economy was booming and the only opposing political party, the Federalists, was on life support. During the first year of Monroe's administration, he continued his outreach to other parts of the country with successful tours in and He also made some smart choices to fill his cabinet, appointing a Southerner, John C.
Calhoun, as secretary of war, and a Northerner, John Quincy Adams , as secretary of state. The good feelings were beginning to dwindle by when the nation's first economic depression took root.
Monroe faced another potentially messy situation with the dispute over Missouri's admission to the Union as a slave state, though this was resolved with the addition of Maine as a free state under the Missouri Compromise of Later that year, with the Federalists unable to put forth a presidential candidate, Monroe cruised to reelection by earning all but one of the electoral votes.
After the Napoleonic Wars, which ended in , many of Spain's colonies in Latin America declared their independence.
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