Monroe, James (Administration)

JAMES MONROE WAS criticized for failing to react to the financial panic of 1819. This was the first recession since the adoption of the Constitution and caused increased poverty in the young United States. Monroe asserted that any corrective measures were the responsibility of the Bank of the United States and of the state governments. Other than extending payment plans for mortgages on federal land sold to private parties, Monroe did little to limit the economic burdens or alleviate economic hardship. The economy eventually rebounded and most Americans accepted and admired his restraint. During the panic, some had called for more indirect government action, but almost no one at the time saw a direct role for the federal government in alleviating poverty.

During his eight years in office, federal spending decreased from $30 million to $20 million per year. Federal debt shrank from $123 million to $84 million, [Page 728]despite the 1819 financial panic, which significantly decreased federal revenues.

Monroe was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1758. He served with distinction during the American Revolution, rising to the rank of colonel. He also pursued a legal career by reading law with Thomas Jefferson, who would remain his mentor and political patron. He also developed a close relationship with James Madison while serving in the Virginia Assembly and Continental Congress.

Monroe opposed ratification of the new Constitution in 1787. He objected to the powers of direct taxation and to the power given to the Senate. At Patrick Henry's request, he ran for Congress against Madison but lost. Two years later he went to Washington, D.C., as a U.S. Senator. He soon found himself working more with Jefferson and Madison in opposition to Alexander Hamilton's attempts to increase the size and power of the federal government. In 1794 President George Washington assigned him to a diplomatic post in postrevolutionary France. His pro-French views, however, caused him to be recalled two years later. Monroe returned to Virginia. In 1799 he was elected governor of Virginia, where he served until 1802.

Under the Jefferson administration, Monroe returned to France as a special envoy to purchase a port along the Mississippi River. The resulting negotiations eventually resulted in the Louisiana Purchase. Monroe spent four more years in Europe as minister to Britain, which was at war with France and was blocking all U.S. trade. Monroe secured a treaty to relax these restrictions but President Jefferson refused to submit the treaty for ratification because it did not prevent Great Britain from boarding American vessels at sea and kidnapping American seamen for service in the British navy. Monroe's disagreement with the administration deepened when he ran against Madison for president in 1808. With Madison's election, he returned to state politics and served another year as governor. In 1811, Madison asked Monroe to return to replace a disloyal secretary of state. In 1814 he also assumed the duties of secretary of war, replacing the man whose incompetence had led to the British invasion of Washington, D.C., that year.

On Madison's retirement in 1816, Monroe easily won election as president, despite some grumblings over a “Virginia Dynasty” in the presidency. In 1820, Monroe was so popular that he ran uncontested, losing only one electoral vote nationwide.

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