#7: Andrew Jackson Part 2

Cool Stuff about Andrew Jackson
1. Jackson actually married a “married woman.” Rachel Robard’s husband, although initiating divorce proceedings in 1791 didn’t follow through with it until 1793. By then Rachel had been Mrs. Jackson for more than 2 years.
2. Jackson had a hand in naming the state of Tennessee. During the state constitutional convention, some delegates wished to name the state Franklin (after Benjamin Franklin) but Jackson thought the state should be named for its main river, the Tennessee. “Four years earlier Kentucky had graced itself with an Indian name, and Jackson thought Tennessee should follow the example, keeping the name of the river that had made the first settlements possible” (p. 79). He proceeded to second the motion and it carried by a large majority.
3. Ever since his foray into Charleston as a teenager, Jackson fell in love with horse racing and horse breeding and for ever afterwards. “And as Jackson acquired capital and standing in the community [in Tennessee], he became a pillar of what even rabid democrats didn’t blush at calling the ‘sport of kings’” (p. 130). He even killed a man, Charles Dickinson, in a duel, over implications of cheating in a horse race. In fact, Jackson took the first bullet near his heart so that he would be able freely fire and kill his man.
4. Andrew Jackson was involved in numerous duels over the years. One such duel was between Jackson as head of the Tennessee militia and John Sevier, ex-Governor of the State. They already had a heated rivalry through Tennessee politics but it became personal when Sevier insulted Rachel. Jackson could never stand a slur against his wife so he challenged Sevier to a duel in Virginia where neither was hurt. In another affair right before the Creek War began, Jackson was insulted by a young man, named Jesse Benton. Jackson threatened to beat him next time they came into contact. When that meeting took place, it was in the open street and shots were fired by various people. No one was killed but Jackson was hit in the arm and the wound was so bad that the doctors wanted to amputate. Jackson would not allow it but kept that bullet in his body till he was President.
5. The Jacksons seemingly could not have children, so they adopted a boy, named Andrew Jackson Jr, from a sister of Rachel’s.
6. Jackson spent most of his life involved with slavery. He owned hundreds of them himself and even traded them. “Jackson treated slavery as a business matter but one not devoid of humanity” (p. 149). “A small but not insignificant aspect of Jackson’s business during this early period was commerce in slaves” (p. 71).
7. Aaron Burr, formerly Vice President under Thomas Jefferson, ruined his political career when he murdered Alexander Hamilton in a duel. He ran away but schemed to liberate the west under his leadership, creating a new nation next to the United States. He ran into Jackson in Tennessee and convinced the General that he needed an army to help him “get the Spanish out of New Orleans.” Jackson, who looked forward to the same thing, mobilized his militia as Burr headed southwest. Soon afterwards though Jackson heard uncomfortable information, accusing Burr as a traitor to the US. Jackson cut off all future contact with Aaron Burr (which was just as well because Jefferson soon would haul him before the Supreme Court) but had almost, inadvertently, committed treason himself.
8. Jackson, although ruthless and coldhearted where his enemies were concerned, had a softer side as well. During the Creek Wars as he brought his vengeance to bear upon the Indians, Jackson adopted an orphaned Indian boy, named Lyncoya, as a companion for Andrew Jr.
9. Most presidents, after they were inaugurated, hold a small reception afterwards at the White House. However, when Jackson was inaugurated, the party at the White House became a mob instead. For some reason, security broke down and people just began streaming into the White House in crowds—leaving the place literally trashed. One of Jackson’s first duties as president was to have the White House completely cleaned and restocked.
10. Jackson was also one of the first presidents to have, besides his Cabinet, a group of tightly-knit political allies that he could consult on many issues. Most people called this unofficial group, the “Kitchen Cabinet” and Jackson used them for much of his information and for the dissemination of presidential information. “Jackson’s informal council served him as a sounding board for policy, but it also provided sustenance, especially now that Rachel was gone” (p. 416).
11. Jackson was the first president to completely overhaul his real Cabinet mid-presidential term. “As much to prove the smug reckoners wrong as to jettison the dead weight of his useless advisors, Jackson did something no president had ever done (and none would ever do more dramatically): he overthrew his whole cabinet” (p. 448). For various reasons, Jackson’s cabinet had not gelled at all and were becoming quite irksome for him. Thus, he dexterously planned to have some resign, some he fired, and others he re-hired elsewhere. He then put together another cabinet, who, some said, were even more qualified than the first.
12. Andrew Jackson was also the first president to face an assassination attempt (actually a couple of them!) The first one was due to the “spoils system” when a recently unemployed Robert Randolph of the Navy department tried to hit Jackson for losing his job. Randolph was immediately overpowered and Jackson only bloodied. A far more serious attempt occurred due to Jackson’s war on the Bank of the United States when the country went into a recession. The assailant’s name was Richard Lawrence and he was a painter, from England, and who had lost his job. On the steps of the Capitol building in 1835, Jackson was descending the steps when Lawrence shot at him pointblank but the gun never fired. He then tried to shoot him with his other gun but it also did not fire. “Jackson by this time realized he was under mortal attack, and he charged the man with his cane” (p. 504). Lawrence was taken into custody and it was proved that he was mentally insane. The weird part? “In the course of the investigation the police tested the pistols Lawrence aimed at the president. Each time now, the weapons fired perfectly” (p. 505). This circumstance proved to many people that Andrew Jackson was chosen by divine providence.
13. Jackson was the first president to take a trip by railroad.


I have to admit that after some of those other presidents, reading about Andrew Jackson was just plain refreshing. I mean this guy had balls and he let everyone know about it. But could you blame him? He literally came from nothing which is quite different from all the other presidents up to this date. Washington, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe were all Virginia landholders and although were they were not wealthy (and most were quite broke), they all started with something. John Adams and his son, John Quincy, never lacked for money and came from a long line of New England farmers. Andrew Jackson was born to a destitute family, fatherless, and by the age of 15, he had lost most of the people he loved. Here then was the American Dream in full force.

Even Jackson’s personality is an enigma. So many people blame him for the Indian catastrophe, believing that he was prejudiced against them, but those same people don’t know that he adopted an Indian boy as his own (of course, he had just killed the boy’s parents.) He was involved in so many duels that I find it amazing that he lived so long and he hated indiscriminately but he was a passionate lover of his family, especially his wife. He was courted and feted and loved by the people of the United States but hated by just about everyone else. He destroyed Britain’s best troops but was then taken to court afterwards for taking over the city in time of war. He inspired such loyalty that it was no wonder that people thought that Jackson had too much power. I like him because you can tell that he was the type that believed in asking forgiveness and not permission.

I also really enjoyed reading this book by HW Brands. It was well-written, not too biased, and it flowed beautifully throughout Jackson’s life. Brands opens the book with a classic Michener-esque feel to it, bringing us back the origins of North America. This opening narrative gives the book a heaviness I would not otherwise have felt if he had just plunked down Andrew Jackson’s birth date on page one. Brands give us a sense that history is important and get this, it flows and repeats itself. For the origins of North America begin with the Indians rollicking over their deliciously unmolested land which is sharply contrasted against the land-hungry, cotton-selling Americans killing and double-dealing to get it back. There is a poetry about Jackson’s story that almost crosses the line into fiction.
Brands also did a great job, I thought, of giving just enough information to understand Andrew Jackson’s life in context with the times. Good background information is given on the Constitution and the start of the state of Tennessee. But Brands’ best achievement was his mini-bios that practically peppered the entire book. I learned quite a bit, by proxy, about Aaron Burr, Nicholas Biddle, John Sevier, Sam Houston and Davy Crockett. I loved how Brands weaved these other men into and out of the life of Andrew Jackson and the story is accordingly so much better for it.

#7: Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)

There is no shortage of books on Andrew Jackson. Even Remini, the author of my John Quincy Adams book, wrote at least 3 or 4 books on Jackson. For me, the issue was just narrowing it down to the perfect one. I retired again to my favorite library and came out with Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times by HW Brands (New York: Doubleday, 2005). Now I have to admit that I felt bad about this—you see, my dad had just purchased a new Andrew Jackson biography for me, American Lion by John Meacham. You can see that this would be a great present for me since I have to read about all the presidents anyways. Unfortunately, this biography (and I only found this out upon its arrival) concentrated strictly on Andrew Jackson’s presidential years. Boo! I had assiduously tried to keep my presidential biographies from being merely about their years in the White House but now I was forced to change my mind.

Good news though. I decided instead that I would simply read both! I know that most of you wouldn’t read more than was absolutely necessary but I excused this aberration by remarking on the sheer amount of literature on Jackson. How could I narrow it down to just one book? Therefore I will read HW Brands’ book first and then follow it up with a little mini-bio from Meacham. And everyone’s happy.

Except little Andrew Jackson, that is. In 1765, Andrew Jackson Sr and his wife emigrated from Ulster, Ireland to make a new life here in the colonies. Due to some very bad luck, Andrew Jackson Sr would die only months before his son was born in 1767 in South Carolina. When Andrew Jackson Jr came into the world, he already had two older brothers but no home and no father. His mother, to keep the family afloat, hired herself off to her relatives as a housekeeper.

Even though the family was dirt poor, Andrew attended an academy for a little while (he showed promise of being very smart) but soon enough, the Revolutionary War would intrude on the Jacksons’ existence. They lived in an area of South Carolina called Waxhaw, and during the war, it was repeated burned and scavenged by the British, leading to an abiding hatred of all the British in little Andrew’s breast. Andrew’s oldest brother died while fighting on the front. At age 14, Andrew enlisted and saw some action but he and his other older brother were captured and sent to a terrible British prison. Mrs. Jackson set out to rescue them, and did so, even though by that time, the boys were both very sick and Andrew’s brother died soon afterwards. Two of Andrew’s cousins were also taken captive around this time and forced Mrs. Jackson to leave again on a rescue mission. Andrew never saw her again.

Since he no longer had any immediate family members, Andrew traveled to Charleston to claim a windfall from another relative there. He proceeded to blow the entire amount but from this impressionable age, he would begin his love of fancy dress, gambling, and horse racing. Upon reaching poverty once more, he tried to be a teacher but that didn’t work out so he switched his profession to law and became an apprentice in Salisbury, North Carolina. In Salisbury, Andrew proceeded to live it up with wild escapades of drinking, gambling and carousing with women, which despite all this, he was eventually admitted to the board to practice law.

He then decided to be a country lawyer for a while but this also didn’t work out. (Apparently Andrew Jackson couldn’t find his niche in society.) But he found a job that would soon lead him where he was meant to be. Since Tennessee was still a part of North Carolina at this time, Jackson was hired by the state and sent out to Nashville as a state Solicitor. Arriving in Nashville, Andrew lived at the Donelson’s boarding house. There he met the lovely Rachel Robards, who was currently estranged from her jealous husband. Her husband soon brought a divorce settlement against her, allowing Rachel and Andrew to marry. They were very much in love and would remain so the rest of their lives, despite Andrew’s frequent absences and various rumors about Rachel’s virtue. Andrew purchased Hermitage Hill for their abode and soon had the settled existence that he had never known before.

With the ratification of the Constitution of the United States, North Carolina lost its territory west of the Appalachian Mountains and Andrew Jackson lost his job, however, he quickly became district attorney of the new territory, inexorably leading him into the political arena. This new territory called a convention to prepare for admission into the Union and to write a state constitution, keeping Jackson in the thick of things for the new state. Tennessee was admitted to the Union and was given one congressional seat in the House of Representatives. Andrew Jackson became the first Congressman from the state of Tennessee. Jackson did some good things for the people of his state but after becoming a Senator as well, he decided he was sick and tired of politicians and the way the government was run. He resigned in 1798 and became a state judge of Tennessee but the military represented his true calling and very soon he was made major general of the Tennessee Militia.

With war on the horizon in 1811, Jackson saw this as the chance for him and his Tennessee volunteers to shine (hence the nickname of the state.) He issued orders calling up the militia and before anyone could stop him, he was headed right for New Orleans. Once there, he received bad news. The US Department of War did not need them and ordered them to disperse, leaving Jackson furious. He had lead these many through many dangers, including Indian raids, bad weather, and food shortages to New Orleans, and now the government just wanted him to send them packing. He refused and staunchly declared that as he brought his men south, now he intended, even if it meant defying orders, to lead them home again. His men loved him for this, gave him the nickname Old Hickory, and followed him wherever he wanted to lead them.

“Jackson’s defiance of authority—word got out that he was bucking orders—and his pledge of his personal resources on behalf of his men won him their love and admiration as nothing else could have…Someone compared him to a hickory branch: thin but impossible to break. The image caught on, and before long, when he rode down the line of march, his men pointed to him and said there goes Old Hickory” (p. 186).
In fact, Andrew did lead them home safely but within months, he called them back into service against a horrendous Creek Indian raid that destroyed Fort Mims. Jackson had been severely wounded only months before but now, while William Henry Harrison was taking care of Tecumseh in the north, Andrew would lead his men south against the Red Sticks tribe and exact vengeance. The Creek War then began and Jackson did what he said he would—kill anyone involved in the Fort Mims massacre. What is amazing is not only did he accomplish his task but he did it under impossible circumstances, including heinous food shortages and mutiny. In fact, Jackson did so well against the Indians that his Indian name became “Sharp Knife” and he became renowned throughout the United States. It was not too long before the United States government agreed with the people; Jackson was someone not to be overlooked and soon he was made a Major General of the United States Army.

Jackson and his militia reached New Orleans on December 1, 1814 and arrived to find the British already nearby and a motley American army in defense of the city. “The ranks included Americans and Frenchmen and Spanish, whites and blacks and persons of mixed race, poor and middling and rich. Some mustered willingly, others with great reluctance. Some hoped for success, others for failure. Most simply hoped to survive whatever Jackson had in store for them. All knew that they’d be fighting British regulars, the best battlefield soldiers in the world.” (p. 260). Add to that the militiamen that came with Andrew Jackson and this was the heterogeneous force that would try to repel the British military at the height of its power. Thankfully, Jackson was not fazed. “The sight of his new troops hardly inspired Jackson’s confidence—which simply meant that he had to inspire confidence in them” (p. 261). He ordered martial law on the city, suspended the writ of habeas corpus, and molded his army into a formidable force that would crush the British attack. Although the war ended with the Treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814, Jackson and his army would decimate thousands of British soldiers on January 8, 1815. Andrew Jackson was a hero.

But the job was not over yet. He was called again into action by President James Monroe to subdue the Seminole tribes wreaking havoc along the Georgia/Florida border. There the first Seminole War began while Jackson took his army to Georgia and dispelled the Indians. However, since most of them merely fled into Spanish-controlled Florida, Jackson believed it was expedient that he go in there and get them. Even though it was a diplomatic disaster, Jackson easily trounced the tiny Spanish garrisons and tracked his way across Florida, capturing the errant Seminoles.
It was an easy step, then, for Jackson to ride his newfound popularity all the way to the White House. Unfortunately it took longer than he expected. With the 1824 election coming up, his name was advanced as a rival to Henry Clay from Kentucky and John Quincy Adams from Massachusetts. It was a close campaign but one that ended with John Quincy Adams winning the presidency and then only a week later JQA offered Henry Clay the Secretary of State position. As Jackson furiously saw it, Adams had offered the job to Clay as payment for his support. “And so began the longest, bitterest, ugliest campaign in American political history. Adams wasn’t even inaugurated before Jackson’s hometown paper, the Nashville Gazette, declared him a candidate for president in 1828” (p. 389).

For four years, the Jacksonian Democrats electioneered on behalf of their presidential candidate. Mudslinging became the norm and the accusations became outrageous. Even Jackson’s wife, Rachel, became the butt of many insinuations, with people calling her a “black wench” and a bigamist. When Jackson won the 1828 election, Rachel died before he could leave for his inauguration, leaving him to believe that she died of a broken heart.

Jackson’s years as President were hectic ones and he faced many challenges. Almost immediately upon being elected Jackson’s cabinet was rent asunder by scandal. It began with Eaton, the Secretary of War, marrying Margaret O’Neale, who had a less than savory past. All the women of Washington snubbed her repeatedly but Jackson, who had just dealt with this about Rachel, militantly stood up for her and her husband. In the end, the Eaton scandal would rock the entire presidency—Jackson would exile his secretary and ward, Andrew Donelson and his family, back to Tennessee and he threw over his entire cabinet in the process.

Jackson also proceeded to fire about a tenth of the civil servants under his command, saying that there was corruption in the past governments and it was time for a change. This seemingly indiscriminate shake-up produced widespread paranoia and bitterness against Jackson and his regime. It also led to the coining of the term “spoils system,” from the common phrase “to the victor go the spoils.”
Another major issue was the Indians. Jackson did not seem to love or hate the Indians but he did love the United States. He knew that Americans wanted the land that the Indians were on and would do anything to get it. Therefore, in a very practical manner, Jackson decided that the best policy for the Indians would be to move west of the Mississippi. That way the Americans could have their land and the Indians would be together and safe from the encroaching Americans. “What Jackson proposed was the legal transfer of land west of the Mississippi to the eastern tribes and the physical transfer of those tribes to the western land” (p. 436). He forced the issue, making the Indians leave their homeland and travel many miles to their new place. The “Trail of Tears” as this route is called starts in Georgia and leads to modern-day Oklahoma.

He was re-elected to a second term and then faced down two of his biggest adversaries. The first was the Bank of the United States and to Jackson, it represented the largest bed of corruption in the nation. Its charter was up for renewal before both houses of Congress and the passed them but the President he vetoed the bill. The Bank of the United States and its president, Nicholas Biddle, would not go out without a fight which became obvious when a money shortage occurred. The Bank contained most of the money in circulation so all Biddle needed to do to get people’s attention was to stop the flow of money. This action led to a recession and Jackson lost some of his popularity but even so he did not swerve and eventually the economy righted itself again.

His second biggest opponent was none other than an opponent to the liberty and union of this country—nullification. Nullification was spawned in the South during JQA’s presidency after he signed the Tariff of 1828, otherwise known as the Tariff of Abominations. Although it was protecting the economy of the nation by putting a protective tariff on all European goods, it hurt the South because it then had to pay extra for things it couldn’t produce—and it made it harder for the European countries to buy cotton. John Calhoun, from South Carolina and once Vice President, drafted the nullification ordinance from this tariff which stated that any state that didn’t like something the national government did could simply refuse to do it. In only a few years from the creation of the tariff, South Carolina was ready to secede from the Union.

This “nullification crisis” was met by the iron will of Andrew Jackson. He had fought for the Union his entire life and wasn’t ready to stop now. He sent South Carolina a strong message through one of their congressmen, “Please give my compliments to my friends in your state, and say to them, that if a single drop of blood shall be shed there in opposition to the laws of the United States, I will hang the first man I can lay my hand on engaged in such treasonable conduct, upon the first tree I can reach” (p. 481). In effect, Jackson had responded with alacrity by ordering a portion of the US Army down South and the Navy to block Charleston’s harbor. When the date for the tariff to go into effect was imminent, Jackson quietly changed some of the tariff so that South Carolina then quietly rescinded their nullification ordinance. The situation was solved and with great delicacy from the president.

In 1836, Jackson was able to retire from the presidency as his Secretary of State and Vice President, Martin Van Buren, succeeded him. Upon his return to Hermitage Hill in Tennessee, he noticed that he would have some work to do in future, making the place profitable again and taking care of his fine horses. Just like most of the presidents upon retirement, Jackson was faced with financial issues at home. His son, Andrew Jr, was constantly in debt and Jackson was forced to sell more and more land and horses to pay for him. “Yet he never got out from under the shadow of debt. Andrew Jr. was demonstrating his incompetence at business; though well-intentioned, he managed to lose thousands to feckless partners and outright frauds” (p. 533). On June 8, 1845, Andrew Jackson died.

#6: John Quincy Adams Part 2

Really Cool Stuff about JQA
1. Not only was John Quincy a celebrated diplomat, President, and Congressman but he also worked at Harvard with a professorship of Rhetoric and Oratory. Throughout his life, he would teach while practicing law and being a politician.
2. While he was minister plenipotentiary to Russia, Madison nominated JQA as a Supreme Court Justice. However, JQA enjoyed working with Czar Alexander so much that he declined the position. (He also didn’t really care for law.)
3. Alcoholism was rampant in the Adams family and was a leading cause of death. JQA’s two brothers, Charles and Thomas, died from it and also his two eldest sons. George Washington Adams, John Quincy’s eldest, never lived up to his father’s impossibly high expectations for him. He became an alcoholic and gambler and finally decided that suicide was preferable to his father’s harangues after he impregnated Eliza Dolph, a young chambermaid. He died on April 30, 1829. JQA’s second son, John Adams II, aged thirty-one, died of alcoholism only years later on October 23, 1834. “This curse [alcoholism] had certainly locked the Adams family in its fearful grip” (p. 135).
4. It is commonly thought that as Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, wrote most of the Monroe Doctrine. It was his idea that President Monroe give the address without the approval of the British and to openly declare America’s principles. “What Adams had done was advance the ideas of noncolonization and nonintervention by Europe (or any other country or continent) in the New World, the two basic concepts that would form the core of the later Monroe Doctrine” (p. 60).
5. As President of the United States, John Quincy swam nude nearly every day in the Potomac. He had a strict schedule which included a daily swim and a daily ride, besides his official duties.
6. It was during JQA’s presidency that the first child was born in the White House. His son, John Adams II, and Mary, his wife, had a daughter there.
7. John Quincy Adams was the leading defense attorney in the famous Amistad case. As a Congressman, Adams had earned a reputation as a defender of human rights and so when the Amistad case found its way in front of the Supreme Court, Adams took on the defense of the slaves aboard the ship. If anyone has seen the recent movie, Amistad, we know that Adams indeed wins the case.
8. John Quincy’s youngest son, Charles Francis, would run as the vice presidential candidate on Martin Van Buren’s Free Soil ticket in the 1848 election.
9. John Quincy Adams was a prolific writer. His father encouraged him to keep a diary at a young age and JQA was adamant about writing in it his entire life. “The complete diary is an absolute treasure trove of information about the early nineteenth century. John Quincy’s son, Charles Francis Adams, edited and published this enormous manuscript in twelve volumes, omitting certain parts that he deemed personal and private. Later, nineteen reels of microfilm were necessary to contain this gargantuan record. No work of history about the antebellum period of US history can afford to neglect it. It is one of the many blessings John Quincy Adams left to posterity” (p. 9).

Come on. You just gotta love John Quincy Adams. Whether it’s his blatant misanthropy, his unusual upbringing, or his sheer staying power in the political realm—John Quincy is just not a boring guy. Let’s face it—he did it all! He had a famous father which made it easy to include JQA on diplomatic missions. Granted he was only eight years old at the time. He then was able to learn several foreign languages, study at premier academies, and even co-lead a diplomatic mission to Russia all before he was eighteen years old. He graduated from Harvard, continued his diplomatic missions through 4 presidents (daddy included), was a Senator, a Professor, and a lawyer. He reached the pinnacle of his foreign service career as Secretary of State and then trumped that by becoming the sixth President of the United States. Even though his presidency did not go well, nobody liked him, his sons kept dying, and he seemingly couldn’t do anything right, he still managed to pull himself out of the gutter to become a US Congressman and the most famous antebellum human rights advocate of his time.

You may not like the man but his resume is seriously impressive.
Honestly, when I write out the summary of his accomplishments, I am truly stunned. As was quoted earlier, JQA rates below average in presidential polls but if you take out his mistakes as President, he was a truly brilliant gem in the phalanx of leaders that our country had put forth so far. Unfortunately, in spite of his fame and frenetic accomplishments, I gather that John Quincy was an unhappy man.
Remini blames this on one person and one person only, Public Enemy Number One, Abigail Adams. Dun-Dun-Dun….. Yes, the woman that we are all taught to adore at an early age is apparently evil incarnate to her eldest son. Before I get into more detail, I do want to bring up the fact that although I did not see this coming, I had an idea that JQA would not be a “normal” guy. In my critique of John Adams, I noted that with an absentee father, it was no wonder that John Quincy and his brothers and sister did not turn out as planned. But now that I’m looking at their situation I see that it was even harder than I imagined with John Adams always away and Abigail left to raise four children by herself, during a war! The fact of the matter is, however, that John Quincy, though attaining the highest office of our land, did not have a happy childhood or adult existence.

So we’re back to the role that Abigail played in all this. When Johnny was seven years old, Abigail begins her son’s education by making him watch the Battle of Bunker Hill. There Johnny watched friends die but Abigail needed him to know the price of freedom. “What a terrible burden to lay on a child. And because his parents relentlessly spelled out his duties, reprimanded him when he failed to live up to them, and corrected every move he made that seemed to contradict their expectations of him, it is not surprising that he developed into a very introverted, self-critical individual of enormous pride and low personal esteem who suffered periodic and deep mental depressions” (p. 3). Whoa—well that’s JQA in a nutshell, I suppose. It is true though that much was expected of John Quincy and Abigail’s letters of correction and advice follow him throughout his life and around the world. “Both Abigail and John never wrote their son without instructing, criticizing, berating, warning, or admonishing him—all for his own good of course” (p. 13). Through all this, John Quincy never complained or stood up for himself.

Thus, and it is almost inevitable, that John Quincy would similarly be a catastrophe as a husband and father. “If Abigail was a calamity as a mother, John Quincy Adams was a disaster as a father—and as a husband” (p. 63). There is evidence of how harsh he was with his own boys, holding them up to unreasonable expectations and never allowing them to take their own paths. “He was always after them, always reminding them to study, to work hard, to keep a journal, to pray, and to exercise self-discipline. What particularly displeased him was the knowledge that none of the boys seemed destined for distinction. None displayed the unique talents of an Adams, and that delinquency offended hiss sense of family pride” (p. 63). The oldest two boys would turn to alcohol and both would eventually die from it but John Quincy merely threw himself harder into his work.

Although John Quincy’s personal life was a shambles, it does not mean we should lose sight of all the really wonderful things he did for our country. It is hard to establish blame or guilt on the Adams family because so much of what they did was done for the good of our nation. The Adams’ literally threw their lives away (and the lives of their children) so that the United States of America could be all that it should be.

But at what a price.

I liked this book. Remini did a great job of giving us all the facts and yet letting John Quincy stand for himself. He painted a gloomy picture of life for this young American boy and an adult life that most people could either envy or distain. He took us through “Johnny’s” youthful moments into the maelstrom of “JQA’s” political existence. It was a seamless and well-researched source on a President that no one seems to care for or acknowledge. With all that John Quincy gave up for his country, the least that we can do is recognize that his sacrifices were all for our benefit today.

#6: John Quincy Adams 1767-1848

Considering I had already read the biography of John Adams, I’ll admit, there was a certain level of expectation involved but I was just not prepared for what I read about his son. First of all, biographies of JQA (as he called himself) were not prolific and therefore I had to settle with a book from The American Presidents Series from our library. I picked up John Quincy Adams by Robert V. Remini (New York: Times Books, 2002). This book is only 155 pages, which I was excited about but it also worried me because I wasn’t sure I was getting a quality bio. Secondly, and I’ve stated this already, I felt like I was one-up on the game. I felt like I knew John Quincy Adams through his own father’s eyes. In reality, it seems, I didn’t know anything at all.

Born July 11, 1767, John Quincy was the second child to John and Abigail Adams in Braintree, MA. Later on, the Adams’ would have two more sons making John the oldest son of the family with attendant birthright and great expectations. According to Remini, though, “Johnny” did not have a great childhood. Dad was away all the time on business for his country while his mother exercised a totalitarian regime in his absence. The Adams’ are known for their letter-writing, which means that little Johnny received his fair share. “And because his parents relentlessly spelled out his duties, reprimanded him when he failed to live up to them, and corrected every move he made that seemed to contradict their expectations of him, it is not surprising that he developed into a very introverted, self-critical individual of enormous pride and low personal esteem” (p. 3). John Quincy doesn’t sound very pleasant, does he?

It was decided when JQA was eight years old that he would accompany his father across the treacherous Atlantic ocean to Paris, France. It was a harrowing journey but they lived t and while John Adams Senior took up his post as minister plenipotentiary to France, John Quincy was put into school. He intermittently traveled (accompanied by his dad) to the United States and back to Europe until it was decided that at age 13 that he would be enrolled in the liberal University of Lleydon in the Netherlands. John Quincy really blossomed in this environment so it was a pity that his time there would be cut short—Francis Dana, new ambassador to Russia, needed a secretary who spoke fluent French. John Quincy was that gay so it was decided to send him to Russia with the US delegation. Johnny spent fourteen long months in Russia and finally returned to Paris in time to welcome his mother and sister there after the Revolutionary War had ended.

In 1785, he returned home so that he could get a college education, hopefully at his father’s alma mater, Harvard. He was accepted and in the requisite three years, graduated in the profession of law. Although he had numerous advantages growing up abroad, he was plagued by depression due to his domineering parents, a profession that he was not fond of, and a love affair that was doomed at the start. Following his father’s example, he became more involved with politics, which culminated with his appointment as ambassador to the Netherlands by President Washington. He accepted the post, against his better judgment, and was soon sailing to London where he was instructed to bring special diplomatic messages to the ambassador. Once there, Adams seemed to have grown fond of Louisa Johnson, the daughter of an American trader, and they married on June 29, 1797. “It was not exactly a marriage of convenience. They did care for one another, but most probably neither deeply loved the other” (p. 30).

John Quincy’s father became President of the United States and promoted his son still higher to the minister plenipotentiary to Prussia. In Prussia, Louisa would suffer through a series of miscarriages until in 1801 a son, George Washington Adams, was born. Unfortunately, John Adams senior, was not re-elected so he chose to recall his son home from Europe instead of allowing Thomas Jefferson and the Republicans fire him.

Back home in the US, John Quincy did not know what to do so he resumed his practice of law. He never really cared for life as a lawyer so when politics called his name again, he was ready. He was elected to the Senate from Massachusetts, although his tenure there was not of long duration. He was considered a loose cannon in the legislative branch because he did not adhere to any political party at all—he simply voted on what he thought was right. “By this time Senator Adams had become a pariah in his own state and no one doubted that his days in Congress were numbered” (p. 39). John Quincy could read the writing on the wall as well and so defiantly, he chose instead to resign.

The newest President, James Madison, chose JQA to become the American ambassador to Russia and the court of Czar Alexander I. Leaving his two oldest children at home (which turned into a fight royal between JQA and Louisa), John Quincy and Louisa embarked on the three month journey to St. Petersburg where she would give him their first daughter. JQA enjoyed being in Russia, partially due to the relationship with the czar. They had a mutually beneficial relationship, allowing John Quincy to ask the czar to intervene diplomatically to end the War of 1812.
John Quincy was asked to chair the peace treaty commission between the United States and Great Britain in Ghent, Belgium. There he was able to influence the peace negotiations into keeping the status quo ante bellum and end the war. The treaty was signed December 24, 1814.

Since he had been away from the US for almost seven years, JQA decided that it was time to return to the United States. He resigned his position in Russia but was told to report to England first as a temporary ambassador there. He finally sent for his sons from the US and the whole family was reunited.

James Monroe was elected President of the United States in 1816 and promptly named John Quincy Adams to the coveted Secretary of State position. It was no secret that the Secretary of State usually went on to become the next President. Remini states that “John Quincy Adams is arguably the greatest secretary of state to serve that office. His negotiating skills and diplomatic insights were mainly responsible for the transformation of the United States into a transcontinental nation, an action that guaranteed the emergence of this country as a world power” (p. 50). The truth of the matter is that JQA did do a good job as secretary of state by really enhancing the power and prestige of the United States in general. One of his first triumphs was the Convention of 1818 where Adams sent ambassadors to England to finalize the particulars of the Treaty of 1814. For example, he set boundary lines in the Northwest, he gave the US full privileges on the Mississippi River and he set fishery compromises with Great Britain. On the flip side, Britain was assured that the US had no designs on their Canadian territories. Thus, things with Britain finally calmed down.

Another triumph for JQA was the Adams-Onis Treaty (or the Transcontinental Treaty) in 1819 that “established the western boundary of the Louisiana Purchase” (p. 56). Not only that but the US gave up demands for Texas in return for Florida. John Quincy decided that this treaty was his most important achievement yet.
The election of 1824 is commonly thought to be the birth of modern electioneering. The reason for this is simple—this election is the first one in which the presidential candidates would actively get involved. The election came down to John Quincy Adams and the great general, Andrew Jackson, but it was also a very, very dirty election in many ways. Mudslinging reached a new level of personal insults, while bargaining was going on hard-core behind the scenes. In fact, the final outcome hinged on the opinion of the Speaker of the House, Henry Clay, who cast his vote for John Quincy Adams. After becoming President, Adams made Clay his Secretary of State which caused the entire nation scream about a “corrupt bargain”. John Quincy couldn’t know this of course but the “corrupt bargain” would hamper his reelection goals.

His presidency started inauspiciously under the “corrupt bargain” and numerous senators and congressmen banded together against him. His plan to have the US attend the new Pan-American conference in Mexico was ignored and they defeated his idea for a national university. He very clumsily handled the issues with the American Indians due to the fact that “Adams had never been a friend of Indians or sympathetic to their pleas for justice” (p. 91). Even though the Indians were obviously being cheated, Adams allowed the individual states to walk all over the federal government regarding this situation. “Poor Adams. He was a novice both in Indian negotiations and in dealing with a truculent state and soon found himself out of his political depth in handling such matters” (p. 95). JQA also suffered from disloyal employees working behind his back, which, even though he knew about them, he did nothing about. “All these issues resulted in the steady lowering of the Adams administration into its political grave” (p. 87).

“Adams meant well but he did not have the political dexterity, wisdom, or will to do what he knew was right” (p. 100). This sums up John Quincy’s presidency in a nut shell. Even Adams described “his administration as a near total failure” (p. 102) and it only got worse. Relations with our Mexican, Central and South American neighbors worsened. More boundary disputes kept cropping up. Trade between the US and the British West Indies was disrupted due to Adams’ fumbling and the resulting economic crash was blamed on his administration. He also administered the Tariff of Abominations, which gave some states more benefits than others, causing an uproar. “It is really impossible to think of any other president quite like John Quincy Adams. He seemed intent on destroying himself and his administration. By the same token, it is difficult to think of a president with greater personal integrity” (p. 110).

The next election, the election of 1828, was, if possible, even dirtier than the last one. This time the Jacksonian Democrats had plenty of ammunition to use against John Quincy. “By the time Adams signed the ‘abominable’ tariff the attacks on him, his administration had grown so gross and vicious that he reckoned his impending defeat as the greatest humiliation of his life” (p. 117). More slanderous stories were told about Adams: that he and his wife had engaged in premarital sex, that he pimped for the czar of Russia, that he was a gambler. It was no surprise to anyone, Adams included, that he lost the election to Andrew Jackson.

Unlike many of the other presidents, he did not come home to retire. True, he thought that his public life was most definitely over with the suicide of his eldest son as the final death knell. “Feeling used up and infirm, John Quincy was genuinely surprised when a number of Quincy neighbors and the editor of the Boston newspaper, Courier, suggested that he consider running for Congress” (p. 131). He did and won an astonishing victory, allowing him to take his seat in the House of Representatives on December 5, 1831. Thereafter would follow one of the most illustrious post-presidential careers in history, culminating in his advocacy of basic human rights “Perhaps more than anyone else of his generation John Quincy Adams represented the thinking, opinions, and attitudes of the vast majority of American citizens—just like his father before him” (p. 145). He suffered a slight stroke in 1846 but returned Congress as soon as he was able. A couple years later, in a Congressional session, he lapsed into a coma and died shortly afterwards on February 23, 1848.

“John Quincy Adams’s presidency may have been a disaster—historians who regularly run polls on the presidents usually list him as ‘below average’—but everything else in his public life added distinction to this nation’s illustrious history. He envisioned the United States as a continental power and helped achieve it. He conceived and formulated one of this country’s most basic doctrines on foreign policy. And, during his final years, he devoted himself to protecting fundamental human rights” (p. 146).

#5: James Monroe Part 2

Really Cool Stuff about James Monroe
1. James Monroe and John Marshall, the future Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, were friends their entire lives. They both met at 11 years and 14 years of age respectively at a little local school in Virginia. After that, they both attended William and Mary together and then enlisted in the Continental Army together. They both became lawyers and even though their paths diverged after that, John moving up the ladder of the law profession at home and becoming a Federalist, James moving into the diplomatic arena abroad as a Republican, they remained good friends throughout. It was culmination of this very long relationship when John Marshall was able to be at James Monroe’s inauguration, administering the oath of office. “ Now, Marshall, the nation’s chief judicial officer, was facilitating the accession of his boyhood friend to the nation’s chief executive post. It was an enormous personal triumph for both men, and the estimated eight thousand spectators roared their approval after the president took his oath” (p. 264).
2. It was hard to tell through Unger’s unctuous ebullience, but I really think that James Monroe had a sense of humor. For example, during one of his tours to the West in which Indian raids were a real threat, he remarked that “It is possible that I may lose my scalp…but if either a little fighting or great deal of running will save it I shall escape safe” (p. 54).
3. Before Aaron Burr could duel Alexander Hamilton, James Monroe had scheduled a duel with Hamilton himself. The irony of it all is that Aaron Burr went to both men and talked them out of it. Thus Monroe and Hamilton never dueled, leaving Hamilton alive to face Burr seven years later. At the time Hamilton was killed, Burr was actually Vice President of the United States under Jefferson.
4. You have to give Monroe some credit on the Louisiana Purchase. After all, he was like the greatest bargain hunter ever! “The parcel of land that Monroe bought, however, was the largest territory any nation had ever acquired peacefully from another in world history—almost one million square miles, an area larger than Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain, and Portugal combined…And he negotiated a bargain price—the equivalent of $15 million, or four cents an acre compared to the average price of $2 an acre for which the US government was then selling unsettled federal lands” (p. 163).
5. George Washington was actually the first president to take a small tour of the new United States but James Monroe was the first president to tour the West. He began in New England (which began the Era of Good Feelings) and then later hit the middle states, the south and finally the newly developed West, including Tennessee and Kentucky.
6. The term “White House” is generally believed to have started around this time. “Workers were still restoring the presidential mansion when President Monroe returned to Washington in September 1819, but they had slathered the blackened exterior sandstone with a thick coat of brilliant white paint that endowed the building with a new name: ‘The White House’” (p. 277).
7. It was also under James Monroe’s presidency that the first marriage occurred in the White House. Monroe’s youngest daughter, Maria Hester, was married to Samuel Gouverneur on March 9, 1820
8. As slavery became more of an issue, many people tried different ways to solve it. One group, called the American Colonization Society, decided that universal emancipation was necessary but that something needed to be done with the slaves once freed. Although not against slavery, per se, Monroe did all in his power to help the Society achieve their goal of sending the slaves back to their native towns in Africa. “Using Monroe administration funds, the Society began settling emancipated slaves on the site [Cape Mesurado in West Africa], which they subsequently named Monrovia to honor the American president” (p. 298).
9. Monroe was the third President to die on the Fourth of July, fifty-five years after the Declaration of Independence was signed.


I was not a fan of this book (I think that is patently obviously) but I will say that there were some good portions. This was a nice, succinct account of James Monroe’s life and presidency, including all the important stuff. Unger took the chronological approach to Monroe’s life and pretty much left nothing out. In fact, I can safely say that I am wiser where James Monroe is concerned. There also was a really lovely amount of illustrations. No, I don’t usually read picture books but when you’re reading history it’s always nice to actually see who you are reading about. Thus, every chapter included a portrait of a person whom Monroe came into contact with. Overall, the book included 5 maps and 37 pictures! Unger also does a really good job on important background information. For instance, he includes a great explanation of specie and the issues that the Articles of Confederation faced dealing with it. Not to mention the general lack of ready money that most people experienced during that time. Unger also gave us good information about the Articles of Confederation in general and what that meant for the nation. I was really impressed with all this background because I’m on book #5 and didn’t read about it anywhere else.

As for the writing style and general portrayal of Monroe, I did not enjoy the method that Unger used here. The entire book is Monroe-centric, and not in the way that biographies usually are. Most biographers, at least the ones that I’ve read, may have a decided partiality toward their subject but for the sake of good history, they will usually incorporate the good with the bad. Not Unger. The Last Founding Father is all-Monroe, all the time. Now Unger does, almost by chance, bring up some of Monroe’s faults but they are never really ascribed to him. If bad things happen to Monroe, it seems to be always at the expense of someone else. For instance, when Monroe failed as a diplomat to France (the first time) and was brought home to the US in some disgrace, Unger (and Monroe) ascribed this to the various Secretaries of State. Other “enemies” of Monroe who had duplicitously screwed him in one way or
another are really too numerous to count.

As I’ve mentioned before, the prologue is absolutely dripping with idolatry of Monroe so that I almost wanted to vomit. Unfortunately, the clumsy handling of our last Founding Father greatly soured my liking of Monroe. And we were on page 2! I know that’s a little unfair to the memory of our fifth President but I can’t help it. I tried to remain unbiased and to cull from the obsessed ranting the justice that Monroe deserved—I really did—but it was so hard. I get annoyed when history is abused in this blatant and ugly way. Geez, let Monroe’s deeds speak for themselves!
Another issue I have with Unger’s writing is his insatiable use of melodrama and his wide, sweeping generalities. The melodrama of this book was unreal! Beginning on page one (remember the quote from chapter one above?), this book oozes over-the-top imagery and sensational statements…kinda like you get from cheap romance novels. Oh, here’s a good example: “The victory restored Britain’s arrogant belief in her invincibility and reignited her insatiable lust for empire” (p. 237). Are you kidding me—“lust for empire!?!” How about this: “Members of Congress stood to applaud—and cheer—some of them trembling with awe as they watched him make his way down the aisle—the Last of the Founding Fathers” (p. 314). I’m sorry but if I’m to believe this, then I’ll need to see some primary source material documenting this alleged “trembling.”

I do not want to judge Monroe poorly here so I will say that he did many magnificent things within his lifetime. From the moment he was born into a small farmer’s family to being wounded in the Revolution to becoming a lawyer to being posted overseas to becoming President of the United States of America, James Monroe was a quintessential example of the American Dream! And I can’t overlook the truly miraculous accomplishments that he was able to give to our fledgling nation. Through his influence and persistence, we would double in size and be able to hold our heads up through two wars. He was truly a great man.

In conclusion, I would not recommend reading this book. Well, if you want a good laugh or to see how not to write a biography then go ahead. I’m almost tempted to either read another biography of Monroe or to read another book by Unger to see if he always writes this way. But, honestly, I’m not that curious. The James Madison bio was hard to read because it was so dry and detailed but Unger’s book was even harder to read. The way he rammed Monroe down my throat was a bitter pill indeed.

#5: James Monroe 1758-1831

James Monroe, it turns out, was a total blank in my memory department. Except for the famous “Monroe Doctrine,” (which I couldn’t remember that much about), he was a complete enigma. Of course, after reading about four other presidents, I was surprised to see Monroe popping up pretty continuously and it made me wonder how I could have missed him before. He’s actually present through the entire thing…the Revolution, the new nation, the government, the Presidency. Wow. He was a Founding Father that I didn’t even really know existed! Who was this diamond in the rough anyways? In anticipation, I went to the library and got The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation’s Call to Greatness by Harlow Giles Unger (Da Capo Press: Philadelphia, 2009). It was newly published, not too long (around the mid-300s mark), and had gotten decent reviews on Amazon. Everything checked out. Beginning to read, I was hoping to see what colonial America was like to James Monroe, our fifth President.
A
nd then I had to stop reading. In the prologue alone, I learned that the author not only thought Monroe was the Greatest President Ever but maybe the Greatest Man Ever. It was like man-love times one hundred. Ugh! According to Unger, all the other presidents up to that point (except Washington, apparently) were chopped liver when compared to the incomparable and brilliant Mr. Monroe! “Washington’s three successors—John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison—were mere caretaker presidents who left the nation bankrupt, its people deeply divided, its borders under attack, its capital city in ashes” (p. 2) Yes, this was page 2. While I was not crazy about Adams, Jefferson or Madison, this bold statement by Unger really annoyed me. I’ve read about those presidents and though they had many issues, they weren’t that bad! Even Elizabeth Monroe was highlighted by Unger’s discriminating pen. “All but unknown to most Americans, Elizabeth Monroe was America’s most beautiful and most courageous First Lady” (p. 4) Did he just say that?? All in all, I found the prologue nauseating and hoped the rest of the book would be better.

It wasn’t. I will discuss the tone of the book later (and believe me, I have puh-lenty of ammo) but for right now, I’ll focus, just like Harlow Giles Unger, on James Monroe. But I have to laugh because this is how the first chapter begins “The world was awash with war when James Monroe was born in the spring of 1758” (p. 7). That sort of overdramatic crap simply oozes throughout the book and makes reading extremely difficult. What the author meant by Monroe’s world being “awash in war” was that he was born during the French and Indian War and the area in which he was born was affected by it. James was born to a middle-class family on a small farm in Virginia, where his father kept the family afloat by providing extra work in carpentry and building. James started school at the age of 11 and was 14 when his mother and father died, leaving him, the oldest son, to care for his four siblings. Thankfully there was a wealthy uncle, Joseph Jones, in the picture to take over some of the family responsibilities. With his uncle’s aid, Monroe was able to attend William and Mary to study law which was cut short when he enlisted in the Continental Army.

He was a part of the action in New York, apparently routing the British almost singlehandedly. Because of the Virginia sharpshooters, “for the first time in the war, American soldiers saw British troops fall and run. Monroe and the Virginians let out a cheer and left the encounter with a newfound swagger. The quiet boy from Monroe Creek had found his voice” (p. 23) The victory was short-lived however with a general retreat across New Jersey for the Continental army but Monroe reappeared, crossing the Delaware with Washington to land a surprise attack on the British in Trenton, NJ. Monroe was shot which left him “on the ground dying in pool of his own blood” (p. 26) but he was saved. He was promoted to Captain and an aide to Lord Stirling, where he became friends with Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette. During the Battle of Brandywine, Monroe proved extremely valuable. “Instead of firing at one or two enemy soldiers on the front line, he changed the tide of battle—maybe even the war—standing at the rear with his general, ready to ride through a hail of fire with messages and orders to and from brigade commanders or the commander in chief, shifting positions of large bodies of men” (p.28) Sheesh…that’s a lot of words basically telling us that Monroe did not actually fight in the battle but gallantly held up the rear. The Battle of Monmouth was next and would be Monroe’s last military engagement of the war.

Even though the war was still raging, he returned to William and Mary to finish his degree and, in the process, became a protégé of Governor Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson appointed Monroe a colonel in the Virginia militia, giving him duties that set up a network of communication between the states. This network doesn’t seem to have helped Virginia though because a few months later the British sacked and burned the capital at Richmond.

Once the war ended, Monroe decided to join the General Assembly in Virginia, thus beginning his long political career, and almost simultaneously, was admitted to the bar. Despite these blessings, financial problems beset him, causing him to sell the farm where he grew up. It must be noted here that a lot of people were having financial troubles during this time. You see, under the Articles of Confederation, each state was able to issue its own currency, which either made currency scarce or caused serious inflation. Monroe was land-rich but money-poor.

After his stint was up with the General Assembly, Monroe was voted to Congress, where almost penniless, he moved up in with Jefferson at Annapolis. Monroe stepped out early as a champion of western expansion and the rights of the United States to western Americans. “Although he failed to score any victories in Congress, his became one of the most prominent—and ominous—voices in the nation, expostulating on issues that few state leaders had dared to face” (p. 59). In the meantime, Congress moved on up to New York City and we come to one of the “great—yet little known—love stories in early American history” (p. 4).

“The New York-born daughter of British Army Captain Lawrence Kortright, Elizabeth Kortright was stunning—a natural beauty, superbly educated, a gifted artist and musician” (p. 61). Of this “great” love story, Unger doesn’t tell us much. Monroe met Elizabeth at the wedding of Elbridge Gerry and although she was a decade younger than he, they were soon married in New York. Because he was so poor, Monroe decided to retire from public life (it didn’t pay very much) and take his new wife down to the small house purchased by his uncle in Fredericksburg, Virginia to resume his pursuit of the law. He was able to establish a lucrative law practice which was just as well, since Elizabeth gave birth to their first child, Eliza.

The new Constitution of the United States was ratified in Virginia in 1788 (opposed by Monroe) and soon after, James Madison beat Monroe in the first ever election to the House of Representatives. Monroe, instead, was elected as a Senator from Virginia and the whole family moved to Philadelphia, where the US government was stationed. Unfortunately, Unger takes this moment to give us an idea of what this would mean for Elizabeth. “She fretted that fashion trends might have passed her by and outmoded her wardrobe, but her doting husband reassured her that her beauty alone would make her the most elegant lady in Philadelphia” (p. 87). I sincerely hope that Mrs. Monroe was not too embarrassed in her old clothes.

The beginning of the French Revolution and the subsequent war between England and France forced President Washington to reevaluate each alliance and declare the United States neutral. To make American neutrality more palatable, Washington appointed James Monroe, an avowed Francophile, ambassador to France. The entire Monroe clan was excited that their new home would be in gay Paree, forgetful of the fact that a Reign of Terror was presently being carried out on that soil. Still James, Elizabeth, and little Eliza made the journey and were soon settled in the French capital. Monroe was able to use some of his popularity to see to the release of Adrienne de Lafayette (wife of the Marquis) from prison. This act would engender the good will of the Lafayettes towards the Monroes for the rest of their lives. After Jay’s Treaty (ending hostilities with England) was signed, the French bonhomie evaporated and Monroe found himself returning to the United States in some indignity. “Racked by anger and bitterness, he felt he had been deceived by two secretaries of state [Randolph and Pickering] and abandoned by the president he had revered since his boyhood [Washington]” (p. 126). But when Monroe got home, the presidency had already changed with John Adams heading up the government.
He decided to take up law again.

In 1799, Monroe was elected governor of Virginia, where he went about revamping the governor’s role in the state’s politics. He did such a good job at it (introducing a ‘state-of-the-state address’ and destroying slave rebellions) that he was reelected three times. “He now stood as America’s most brilliant state leader, having transformed the Virginia governorship into the state’s most powerful office and metamorphosed into the nations second-most-influential figure—one of two heirs apparent to President Jefferson” (p. 145). In 1802, war again loomed on the horizon and Jefferson turned to his friend, Monroe, to become a special commissioner to France. He was given instructions that he should purchase New Orleans and let the powers of Europe know that the United States was to be giving free right of trade on the Mississippi River.

Back in France, Monroe worked with American ambassador, Robert Livingston, on the possible sale of New Orleans. However, Napoleon had other plans. Frustrated with the decimation of his plans to conquer the US through New Orleans, he badly needed money and on impulse, asked if the US was willing to buy the “whole of Louisiana” (p. 159). “Three weeks after the Monroes reached Paris, Monroe and Livingston, all but ripped up their instructions and signed an agreement with Barbe-Marbois, transferring French sovereignty over Louisiana to the United States” (p. 163).

Back in the United States, Jefferson’s Embargo Act had just gone into effect and the whole nation was in an uproar. Monroe, again bitter and angry over the way his affairs were handled in Europe, decided at once to challenge James Madison in the 1808 presidential elections. His lack of money, however, made the whole idea totally unsuitable and he failed to win the nomination while James Madison indeed went on to become the President. This failure caused Monroe to retire to his house in the Virginia countryside, where he decided to become a gentleman farmer and somehow erase his debt. Gentleman farming wasn’t all it was cracked up to be so Monroe jumped at the chance to be governor of Virginia once again.

When it rains, it pours. Soon after Monroe was established as the new governor, Madison sent him a proposal where he was invited to be the very coveted Secretary of State in Madison’s cabinet. With seeming humility, Monroe accepted the high office and moved his family to the new capital, Washington City (soon to be Washington DC). His duties included meeting with the French and British ambassadors about the war in Europe, the impressment of American ships and sailors, and the closure of European ports to American goods. The situation between the US and Great Britain steadily worsened, culminating in a declaration of war on April 1, 1812, which left the United States in a precarious position—you see, the nation wasn’t ready. The army and navy were pitifully small, the United States government had no power to tax the people nor was there a Bank of the United States in which to draw funds from. Plus sections of the American population were adamantly opposed to the war, mainly in New England where trade would be affected.

Defeats followed on land but the tiny United States navy prevented a general loss with a few important wins at sea. British ships began raiding the area around the Chesapeake even going so far as to burn Alexandria, directly downriver from Washington City. The Secretary of War, Brigadier General John Armstrong, was convinced that Washington City would never be a target of the British, focusing instead head for Baltimore. His tunnel vision would lead to the capture and burning of Washington on August 24, 1814. Monroe, during these days, worked overtime and was everywhere trying to help. This next quote is classic. “He set up a camp cot to let him sleep on the job, but he never slept on the job” (p. 247) Clearly James Monroe was an early version of Chuck Norris. “He was everywhere, immersing himself in every detail of the city’s defense; all but hauling logs into the breastworks himself. He was an inspiring presence that rallied citizen spirits—bound the best of them as one to save their city from further assault” (p. 247). It just keeps getting better.

Unger allows us to assume that since Madison was a broken man after this and the rest of the American population were more akin to chickens with their heads cut off, that it was Monroe’s sheer willpower that kept total chaos from ensuing. Without his help, though, the American commissioners in Europe concluded the Treaty of Ghent with the British that upheld the status quo ante bellum (meaning that everything went back to the way it was before the war). Also without Monroe’s help, General Jackson and his rag tag army of Americans absolutely mauled the British at the Battle of New Orleans, killing over 2,000 British troops.

“The war quickly became a distant memory, as Americans happily embraced the greatest peacetime prosperity they had experienced in the more than thirty-two years since victory at Yorktown” (p. 255). Monroe then ran for President in the 1816 elections and won in a pretty hefty victory, becoming the fifth President of the United States of America. His first term began innocuously enough. Termed the “Era of Good Feelings” by a New England newspaper, Monroe was able to unite the Federalists and Republicans together for the first time. With this end in mind, Monroe decided to emulate Washington and take a tour of the nation, beginning in New England. Everything was going so well that he even abolished taxes! National improvements began with new roads and even a canal near Erie, PA. James Monroe was reelected to the presidency in a nearly unanimous decision. But this unlimited prosperity was already dying.

Two major issues occurred that contributed to the demise of the “Era of Good Feelings.” “Early in 1819, however, the nation’s first financial panic introduced some decidedly ill feelings into the Era of Good Feelings” (p.296). The Panic of 1819 was the first wedge that occurred during Monroe’s administration. The Panic was induced by a land speculation “bubble,” where investors bought and sold land in return for bank notes. However, no one checked whether the land that was sold was actually theirs to sell or not. These fraudulent land sales induced the US Government to demand that the banks back the paper notes that they were giving out, which in turn lead to thousands of bank closings and to thousands of people losing their savings.

Secondly, with the advent of Eli Whitney’s cotton gin, the biggest national export became cotton and the reliance on slavery increased. Slavery might have died a natural death but cotton did not need skilled workers to grow it—any five-year-old could pick it. Thus, the issue of slavery became a very big deal and no more so then when Missouri, in 1819, asked to become a state. The crisis was averted with the Missouri Compromise of 1820 which stated that Missouri could be admitted as a slave state as long as Maine was admitted as a free state…oh and all future states below the 36/30 latitude line would be slave states, henceforth.

More bad news for Monroe was a-coming. The Secretary of the Treasury read the figures wrong and instead of a surplus, the country had a very big deficit instead. Also when he brought harmony between the political parties, Monroe was basically shooting himself in the foot. “In effect, Monroe had created political anarchy and, in doing so, he not only rendered himself politically impotent, he permitted new divisions based on personal political ambitions to form between political leaders” (p. 310). His cabinet also began to fight amongst itself while new South American countries were clamoring for recognition even while the European nations were trying to win them back. In the midst of all this though, Monroe, with the help of his Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, was able to announce to Congress and to the world that the Western Hemisphere was off limits to the European powers and the United States would forcibly step in should this warning be disregarded. The famous “Monroe Doctrine” had arrived.

Monroe stepped down as President after two terms, with John Quincy Adams winning the presidency in the heated 1824 election. Monroe then moved his family back to his estate in Virginia, Oak Hill, in preparation for his retirement, only then realizing that his financial issues had never been resolved and were still waiting for him. He had to sell his other Virginian farm, some land in Kentucky, and he also had to ask Congress for all the back pay that was owed him from his diplomatic missions. He was elected to the Virginia constitutional convention which he attended with both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison but he was forced to resign due to ill health and the death of his wife, Elizabeth, in September 1829. He collapsed soon afterwards and had to be taken to New York City to live with his oldest daughter, Eliza. He died there at 73 years of age on July 4, 1831.

#4: James Madison Part 2

Really Cool Stuff about James Madison
1.) I consider James Madison our first full-time “politician.” While the other Founding Fathers had other occupations, Madison didn’t. He fell into the political life after college and never really left it, even when he tried to be a farmer. He never enlisted in the army; he was never admitted to the bar; he never traveled overseas. He was just…a politician.
2.) He was known as the Father of the Constitution. “In attending to every detail of this structure, and in being sensitive at every point to the effect of blending the various parts, Madison played his most crucial role, and earned the title later bestowed on him, Father of the Constitution” (p. 229).
3.) He singlehandedly wrote the Bill of Rights. “He sought both to give the widest possible scope to freedom of conscience and to demonstrate the diversity a republican government could safely accommodate” (p. 292).
4.) After the British burned Washington, they headed to Baltimore in an effort to destroy it as well. However, Baltimore was ready for them and this battle (the Battle of Fort McHenry) provided the backdrop for Francis Scott Key, a Washington lawyer, to write in amazement “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
5.) The United States has always been a sectionally-driven nation and yet the War of 1812 would provoke the first faint stirrings of the Civil War. As foreshadowing, the North, namely New England, threatened to cede from the union over Madison’s War of 1812 against the British. New England was extremely friendly to British trade and thought that war with England would damage their lucrative friendship. The New Englanders created the Hartford Convention that tried to call Madison to account and to warn about possible cession. The very positive end to the war destroyed the Convention and the Federalists all at once but the seeds had been sown.
6.) Fighting in the War of 1812 were many men who would later make a name for themselves. For example, Davy Crockett and Sam Houston were members of Andrew Jackson’s army in New Orleans.

Hmmm…would I recommend this book to others? It was not a bad book but I can’t say that I would. Here’s my biggest problem with this work—sheer superfluity. I understand the historian’s need to be as accurate and as detailed as possible but there is a limit that must be enforced once the author begins to move into generalizations and conjecture.

Ketcham uses these two evils immediately by filling empty holes in Madison’s childhood. In other words, the author plays god here by taking the information written by other people at the time and working it into the Madison biography. To be honest, Ketcham tells us exactly what he’s about to do. “Beyond a few old-age recollections, there is no documentation of particular events in James Madison’s youth. The story can be surmised, however, from farm records, from important events that would have affected a boy in Madison’s situation, and from what is know generally of Virginia family and plantation life in his day. Though the account thus obtained is necessarily conjectural in some of its details, something of an otherwise hidden boyhood assumes sketchy form” (p. 9).

With Ketcham’s own admission, then, I plowed through a tediously long and detailed account of someone’s youth, who may or may not be James Madison. That means I had to read a lot of “we may imagine”s or “we may suppose”s in regards to Madison’s early years. Now let me just say this, I would not have minded this tramp into the realms of unreality, but when the book is already 700 pages long and now I know why it’s 700 pages, well that makes me really upset. It feels like I’m just wasting my time here. And to make things worse, Ketcham then tries to get poetic on us. Instead of just telling us about Madison’s trip to New Jersey, he has to get descriptive. “Riding along the river [Potomac], Madison may have observed, as other travelers had, the sport of fishing hawks and bald eagles. A hawk would dive into the water and catch a fish in its talons, but then often lose its prey to an eagle that would soar down from above, frighten the hawk into dropping the fish, and then swoop below to catch the fish before it reached the water” (p. 26).
Following this narrative, Ketcham expounds on Madison’s college years, giving us a detailed account of books he might have read, the political influences swirling about the college town, and a small biography on Madison’s academic advisor, John Witherspoon. Later on, Madison becomes engaged (not to Dolley) and then consequently dumped. Ketcham has this to say on the matter. “We may imagine Madison spending anxious, lonely days of despair after hearing disturbing word from Kitty and during the absence of Congress from Princeton” (p. 110). After this book, I am heartily sick of the phrase “we may imagine.”

On the flip side, there were some aspects of the book that were great but the problem was wading through the superfluity to get to these good parts. Ketcham goes into great detail on the political side of the war, which was nice since this was a new facet of the war that I hadn’t read about yet. It was fascinating reading about all the different ways our country came together. In the end, though, the book was a highly analytic, deeply specific account of our fourth President.
I had mentioned earlier that it was difficult to find a bio on James Madison and I was curious as to what dour crime has prompted this treatment. I have come to realize that Madison’s greatest sin was simply that he was not a spectacular personage. He lacked the flair that Jefferson and later, Jackson would have. He did his job and that was that. He was not a very good judge of character so during his two terms as President, his biggest problems involved all the fighting amidst his cabinet. It was also due to his poor judgment that he would select General Armstrong to head the War department and we all know how that turned out. But Madison tried to be a good man for our country and a good President. One of his greatest successes was marrying the pretty, popular Dolley Todd who turned Washington DC and the White House into a fun place to be. Her expert hostessing helped her taciturn husband weather the political storms, and the actual battles, surrounding them.

In the end, I think it’s important to remember that we, today, are actively living out James Madison’s legacy—the United States Constitution. It was due to his ingenuity and brilliance that we have such a beautiful document. Combine that with the Bill of Rights and you have the essence that makes us citizens of one of the greatest countries on earth.

James Madison gave the best of himself to us and we should be proud that he was one of our Presidents.