bargainsleuth's review
2.0
No original work done here. Quotes heavily from other Monroe biographies.
jstamper2022's review
4.0
A brief look at the Presidency of James Monroe and how he shaped the country, literally. A Revolutionary War veteran and last of the Founding Fathers to be president, he became obsessed with national security, working with John Quincy Adams, his Sec. of State, he formulated the Monroe Doctrine, formally declaring the Western Hemisphere off limits to European powers and any actions taken by them against independent nations would be seen as a threat to the United States. While Governor of Virginia, he helped negotiate the Louisiana purchase. He purchased the Floridas from Spain. The Treaty of 1818 was signed by Monroe establishing the 49th Parallel as our border with British Canada and opened the Oregon Territory to the US, giving us access to the Pacific. He supported sending freed slaves back to Africa, a legacy seen today in Liberia who's capital city, Monrovia is named after the 5th President. Monroe's presidency was the last of the First Party System and the Era of Good Feelings. Following Monroe's presidency, we get the rise of the Second Party System, Jacksonian Democracy which saw the Federalists all but disappear and the Republicans split. We get the rise of two new factions, the Jacksonian Democrats, the same party as today and Henry Clay's faction that gave rise to the Whig Party.
susangeo's review
3.0
Book was just ok. I didn't care how it was written and didn't go into as much depth as the other presidential books I've read.
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