James Monroe: Profile of a President
As a young lieutenant he was wounded at Trenton. Decades later, as president, he drew a clear line for the whole hemisphere. This profile follows James Monroe's contributions and the legacy they left: problems solved at the table instead of on a battlefield. James Monroe built his career on diplomacy. He fought as a young soldier, served as a diplomat abroad, and then led the country as president. In 1823 he announced the Monroe Doctrine: Europe should not plant new colonies in the Americas, and the United States would stay out of Europe's wars. He also acquired Florida from Spain and presided over the Era of Good Feelings. Those facts show a leader who tried to make the young nation secure by working with other nations. Early life Monroe was born in 1758 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He fought in the Revolutionary War and was wounded at Trenton in 1776. He later studied law under Thomas Jefferson. Highland, his later home, was a plantation. Enslaved people lived and worke...