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Monroe, James

biographical name

James Monroe, oil sketch by E.O. Sully, 1836, after a contemporary portrait by Thomas Sully; in …—Courtesy of the Independence National Historical Park Collection, Philadelphia

(born April 28, 1758, Westmoreland county, Va.—died July 4, 1831, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Fifth president of the U.S. (1817–25). After serving in the American Revolution, he studied law under Thomas Jefferson, then governor of Virginia. From 1783 to 1786 he served in the Congress under the Articles of Confederation. In 1790 he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he opposed the adminstration of George Washington. He nevertheless became Washington's minister to France in 1794, though he was recalled two years later for misleading the French about U.S. politics. From 1799 to 1802 he served as governor of Virginia. In 1803 Pres. Jefferson sent him to France to help negotiate the Louisiana Purchase; he was then appointed minister to Britain (1803–07). He returned to Virginia and was again elected governor in 1810, though he resigned the office after 11 months to serve as U.S. secretary of state (1811–17) and secretary of war (1814–15). He served two terms as president, presiding in a period that became known as the Era of Good Feelings. He oversaw the Seminole War of 1817–18 and the acquisition of the Floridas (1819–21), and he signed the Missouri Compromise (1820). With Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, he developed the principles of U.S. foreign policy later called the Monroe Doctrine.

This entry comes from Encyclopædia Britannica Concise.
For the full entry on Monroe, James, visit Britannica.com.