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Birth:April 28, 1758 Westmoreland County, VA Death: July 4, 1831 New York, New York Political Party: Democratic Republican Terms in Office: 1817-1821 and 1821-1825 Vice President: Daniel D. Tompkins (1817-1825)
 * __James Monroe__**

James Monroe was a Democratic Republican, and the fifth president of the United States. If he were to receive a grade on his tenure as president of the United States, he would earn an A. This grade is appropriate for his terms in office because he dealt with several difficult situations well and without conflict, as well as had sound foreign and domestic policy.

Monroe's main goal upon taking office was to promote nationalism among the states. Having just won the War of 1812, America was entering the "Era of Good Feelings", and Monroe wanted to use this momentum to unite the states and form a stronger union. Taking three national tours, one through the north, one through the Chesapeake Bay area, and one through the South and West, President Monroe meant to connect with the American people and earn their support. His plan was successful, and Americans poured with love for their president. This, in effect, brought America to having only one political party of Democratic Republicans, and completed Monroe's goal of promoting national unity in America.

President James Monroe and his Democratic-Republican Congress had a good relationship. Sharing similiar views and beliefs, the two had no quarrels and passed legislature with relative ease. Monroe never used his power of the presidential veto. Congress in turn passed the Missouri Compromise and several other laws and policies proposed by the President.

The Missouri Compromise that Monroe arranged was undoubtedly his most positive action as president. When Missouri requested its admission to the union as a state in 1819, the general public saw a flaw of the prospective new state. Slave and Free were the states labels in those times, and Missouri was officially undecided. Monroe's compromise inducted Missouri into the union as a slave state, while simultaneously adding Maine to the union a state as a free state. This ingenious idea saved possible years of fighting and unrest between slave and free states, and kept America conflict free on this issue for many years. Another clause of this compromise was to call for slavery to be prohibited in the western territories of the Louisiana Purchase above the 36/30' north latitude line.

President Monroe's worst decision in office was to turn to the Second Bank of the United States. This curb in policy pointed in the direction of conservatism, and ultimately led to the Panic of 1819. During the panic banks failed, mortgages foreclosed, many industries suffered economically, and the country hit it's first real low. In essence, the Panic of 1819 was a depression caused by Monroe's newly conservative policies. However, knowing that a depression was only a stepping stone and probably a necessity for a growing nation, he felt that America would soon come out of the slump. He was right, as the Panic of 1819 lasted only four years, ending in 1823. The end of the panic was partially due to Secretary of the Treasury William Crawford's policy to relax mortgage payment terms on lands purchased from the federal government.

President Monroe greatly influenced future presidents through his policy and ideals that he upheld while in office. The most influential of these was the Monroe Doctrine. While addressing Congress in his yearly speech, Monroe warned European powers to leave the western hemisphere to America to colonize. This showed that America was finally coming into its own as a country. It warned European nations to not meddle with the Americas, and the countries, for the most part, obeyed. One example of how the Monroe Doctrine was enforced was the Cuban Missle Crisis. This invloved the Soviet Union in the 1900's and their placement of missiles on the Cuban island to allegedly attack the United States. The United States military surrounded the island and cut off all contact with the outside world until the missiles were removed. The Soviets broke the code of the Monroe Doctrine, and the American retalliated duely.

America post-Monroe was without a doubt better off than America before his presidency. This was due to his many successes, including the Missouri Compromise and the Monroe Doctrine. Monroe's presidential terms deserve a grade of an A.

__Bibliography__ __ "James Madison." //infoplease//. N.p., 2007. Web. 1 Sep 2010. []. __

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John, Miller. "James Madison." //googleusercontent//. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Sep 2010. <[]>.