Hail to the Chiefs Part V: Intermission
Originally written October 4, 2009
Thus far, with the 1st four presidents, we've had a fair amount of excitement. We've had General George Washington both navigating the Delaware river in winter, and navigating the massive egos in his cabinet. We've had plenty of draaamaaa with John Adams and his fantastic marriage and not so fantastic social skills. But as we get to the last Founding Father to be president....things get considerably less exciting. I'm going to tell you everything interesting I know about James Monroe, which means this will be a very short entry. But fear not, fair readers. After this comes John "Frodo" Adams, Old Hickory...and a plethora of dunderheads who paved the way to the Civil War.
James Monroe was born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Not to be confused with the nation of Pottsylvania; birthplace of Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale.
Just like all the other Virginian Founding Fathers, Monroe went to college at William and Mary. However, not long after he started there, so did the Revolutionary War. Unlike fussy little James Madison, Monroe could handle being in the army, and became a war hero. In the painting of Washington crossing the Delaware River, that's Monroe carrying the flag. Fellow founding father John Adams thought Monroe was a moron. But I suspect that's sour grapes as Monroe was good-looking, well-liked and a war hero. Adams shouldn't have been so bitter...he had a much better marriage.
After the war ended, Monroe studied law under Thomas Jefferson. Like James Madison, he became a protegee of Jefferson. He had a bunch of government jobs....Ambassador to England, senator, a couple of positions on Madison's cabinet, and eventually got elected president.
Monroe was lucky enough to be president during the "Era of Good Feelings." Tra la la la la! Not a heck of a lot happened. There were the Seminole Wars in the Georgia/Florida area. Florida, which belonged to Spain at the time, had the added complication of attracting fugitive slaves. Andrew Jackson and his soldiers wiped out a fort with over 200 slaves in it.
Of course with Monroe you also have the Monroe Doctrine which is basically Europe should leave the Western Hemisphere alone and the Americas should leave Europe alone. Even though it's called the Monroe Doctrine...it was really more from John Quincy Adams.
During this time, freed African-American slaves were starting to colonize Liberia. They later named the capital Monrovia, as Monroe was a big supporter of the colony. It is the only non-American capital to be named after an American president.
Like the other founding fathers, Monroe spent his final years in debt. He died in New York city on July 4, 1831; 55 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and 5 years after the deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
Sadly I could find no Monroe-related muppet clips. However, if you search under "president" and "Monroe" in youtube, you get this result:
Thus far, with the 1st four presidents, we've had a fair amount of excitement. We've had General George Washington both navigating the Delaware river in winter, and navigating the massive egos in his cabinet. We've had plenty of draaamaaa with John Adams and his fantastic marriage and not so fantastic social skills. But as we get to the last Founding Father to be president....things get considerably less exciting. I'm going to tell you everything interesting I know about James Monroe, which means this will be a very short entry. But fear not, fair readers. After this comes John "Frodo" Adams, Old Hickory...and a plethora of dunderheads who paved the way to the Civil War.
James Monroe was born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Not to be confused with the nation of Pottsylvania; birthplace of Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale.
Just like all the other Virginian Founding Fathers, Monroe went to college at William and Mary. However, not long after he started there, so did the Revolutionary War. Unlike fussy little James Madison, Monroe could handle being in the army, and became a war hero. In the painting of Washington crossing the Delaware River, that's Monroe carrying the flag. Fellow founding father John Adams thought Monroe was a moron. But I suspect that's sour grapes as Monroe was good-looking, well-liked and a war hero. Adams shouldn't have been so bitter...he had a much better marriage.
After the war ended, Monroe studied law under Thomas Jefferson. Like James Madison, he became a protegee of Jefferson. He had a bunch of government jobs....Ambassador to England, senator, a couple of positions on Madison's cabinet, and eventually got elected president.
Monroe was lucky enough to be president during the "Era of Good Feelings." Tra la la la la! Not a heck of a lot happened. There were the Seminole Wars in the Georgia/Florida area. Florida, which belonged to Spain at the time, had the added complication of attracting fugitive slaves. Andrew Jackson and his soldiers wiped out a fort with over 200 slaves in it.
Of course with Monroe you also have the Monroe Doctrine which is basically Europe should leave the Western Hemisphere alone and the Americas should leave Europe alone. Even though it's called the Monroe Doctrine...it was really more from John Quincy Adams.
During this time, freed African-American slaves were starting to colonize Liberia. They later named the capital Monrovia, as Monroe was a big supporter of the colony. It is the only non-American capital to be named after an American president.
Like the other founding fathers, Monroe spent his final years in debt. He died in New York city on July 4, 1831; 55 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and 5 years after the deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
Sadly I could find no Monroe-related muppet clips. However, if you search under "president" and "Monroe" in youtube, you get this result: