geeky
Monroe's father died when James was 16 years old, which gave the future president the responsibility of being the head of the family at an early age. He fought in the American Revolutionary War and was wounded in the Battle of Trenton from a musket ball to his shoulder. He studied law under Thomas Jefferson from 1780 to 1783, and later served as a delegate to the Continental Congress. As an anti-federalist delegate to the Virginia convention that considered ratification of the United States Constitution, Monroe opposed ratification, claiming it gave too much power to the central government. He opposed James Madison in that battle, but the two men became perhaps the best example of how political differences of opinion need not ruin a friendship. Monroe took an active part in the new government, and in 1790 he was elected to the Senate of the first United States Congress. He later served as the Governor of Virginia and rose to national prominence as a diplomat in France, when he helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. During the War of 1812, Monroe held the critical roles of Secretary of State and later also as Secretary of War in the cabinet of President James Madison.
Facing little opposition from the fractured Federalist Party, Monroe was easily elected president in 1816, winning over 80 percent of the electoral vote. As president, he bought Florida from Spain and sought to ease partisan tensions, by embarking on a tour of the country, in which he was well received. With the ratification of the Treaty of 1818, under the successful diplomacy of his Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, the United States extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific, gaining harbor and fishing rights in the Pacific Northwest. The United States and Britain jointly occupied the Oregon Country. Nationalism surged, partisan fury subsided and the "Era of Good Feelings" enveloped the nation until the Panic of 1819 struck and dispute over the admission of Missouri in 1820 drew the country into a debate between slave and free states (leading to the Compromise of 1820). Monroe won near-unanimous reelection. (One elector cast a vote for John Quincy Adams because he believed that the honor of unanimous election should be reserved for George Washington.)
Monroe supported the founding of colonies in Africa for free African Americans that would eventually form the nation of Liberia. Its capital, Monrovia, is named after him. In 1823, he announced the United States' opposition to any European intervention in the recently independent countries of the Americas with the Monroe Doctrine, which became a landmark in American foreign policy.
Following his retirement in 1825, Monroe was plagued by financial difficulties. He died in New York City on July 4, 1831, becoming the third president to die on the fourth of July. In my view, James Monroe ranks high on the list of underrated presidents, possibly at the top of that list.