The Presidency of James Monroe

The Presidency of James Monroe
by Noble E. Cunningham

The Presidency of James Monroe
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Book Summary Information

Author: Noble E. Cunningham
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1996-01
ISBN: 0700607285
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: University Press of Kansas

Book Reviews of The Presidency of James Monroe

Book Review: Accurate and interesting, but not exceptional
Summary: 4 Stars

As the last president who fought in the revolution and a lesser light when measured against Washington, Jefferson and Madison, James Monroe is often considered a transitional figure. Which has some validity in both cases. Although wounded in battle, he did not have anywhere near the stature that Washington did. He was also no match for the intellects of Adams, Jefferson or Madison, and was intellectually secondary to John Quincy Adams, his secretary of state. Nevertheless, he was a man of substance, showing patience in negotiating treaties that continued the inexorable expansion of U.S. territory.
Monroe also showed himself to be a true visionary when he enunciated the Monroe doctrine, where the powers of Europe were told to stay away from any interference with any country that had won independence from their former European masters. Given that it was the power of the British navy that enforced it, something that he was well aware of, it showed that he was trying to form a de-facto alliance with the former colonial rulers.
Cunningham chronicles these events, but also examines one other feature of the times, namely the lack of a second party. By the time of Monroe's second term, the Federalists were dead as a political party, although some still held office. Without opposition, there was no need to maintain discipline within the Republican party, a situation that led to the major problems Monroe had being generated by members of his party. This is a significant point, something that is covered in complete detail.
Monroe was also the first president to go on the equivalent of a campaign tour, which makes him more modern than he would appear. We see many hints of future presidents in that tour, how they will campaign, gather public support and simply how Americans receive their leaders.
In many ways, Monroe was a transitional figure as a president, which made his presidency relatively uneventful, considering what occurred in the previous administrations. Yet, he laid the groundwork for many substantial changes, starting the nation along paths of greatness, but also being a part of the trek towards a civil war. Cunningham describes all of this in detail, exploring the actions of a man who was a fine, but not great leader.

Summary of The Presidency of James Monroe

Filled with new insights and fresh interpretations, this is the richest study yet published on the presidency of James Monroe, the last Revolutionary War hero to ascend to that august office.

Noble Cunningham's history of the fifth presidency (1817-25) shows a young nation beset by growing pains and led by a cautious politician who had neither the learning nor the intellect of Jefferson or Madison, but whose actions strengthened both the United States and the presidency itself.

Cunningham makes clear that the mislabelled "era of good feelings" had more than its share of crises, including those resulting from revolutions in Latin America, Spanish possession of Florida, the depression of 1819, and the controversy over slavery in Missouri.

Monroe, he shows, successfully defused these potentially explosive situations, most notably by negotiating the 1820 Missouri Compromise and announcing in 1823 what came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine, a document that still guides American policy in the western hemisphere.

Cunningham effectively places these actions within the context of Monroe's life and times and sheds new light on the inner workings of his cabinet and his relations with Congress. In addition, he features the prominent roles of two future presidents: John Quincy Adams as secretary of state and Andrew Jackson as the controversial general whose actions in the Seminole War created a headache for the administration.

Though substantially informed by previous scholarship, Cunningham writes largely from the abundant primary source materials of the era to provide an illuminating new look at a president and a nation on the brink of greatness.

This book is part of the American Presidency Series.

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