James Monroe (April 28, 1758 - July 4, 1831) was the fifth President of the United States (1817-1825). He was the last president who was a Founding Father, and the third of them to die on Independence Day. He fought in the American Revolutionary War. He w


James Monroe (April 28, 1758 - July 4, 1831) was the fifth President of the United States (1817-1825). He was the last president who was a Founding Father, and the third of them to die on Independence Day. He fought in the American Revolutionary War. He was injured in the Battle of Trenton with a musket ball to his shoulder. After studying law under Thomas Jefferson, he served as a delegate in the Continental Congress. As an anti-federalist delegate to the Virginia convention that considered ratification of the United States Constitution, Monroe opposed ratification. In 1790 he was elected to the Senate of the first United States Congress, where he joined the Jeffersonians. He gained experience as an executive as the Governor of Virginia and rose to national prominence as a diplomat in France, when he helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. During the War of 1812, he held the critical roles of Secretary of State and the Secretary of War under President James Madison. Facing little opposition from the fractured Federalist Party, Monroe was easily elected president in 1816, winning over 80 percent of the electoral vote and becoming the last president during the First Party System era of American politics. He supported the founding of colonies in Africa for free African Americans that would eventually form the nation of Liberia, whose capital, Monrovia, is named in his honor. In 1823, he announced the opposition to any European intervention in the recently independent countries of the Americas with the Monroe Doctrine, which became a landmark in American foreign policy. He was the last President to wear a powdered wig tied in a queue, a tricorne and knee breeches according to the old-fashioned style of the 18th gained him the nickname "The Last Cocked Hat". Following his retirement in 1825, Monroe was plagued by financial difficulties. He died in 1831 at the age of 73.


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