In 1816 Monroe was chosen president of the United States; he received 183 electoral votes, and Rufus King, his Federalist opponent, 34. In 1820 he was re-elected, receiving all the electoral votes but one, which William Plumer (1759-1850) of New Hampshire cast for John Quincy Adams, in order, it is said, that no one might share with Washington the honour of a unanimous election. The chief events of his administration, which has been called the "era of good feeling," were the Seminole War (1817– 18) ; the acquisition of the Floridas from Spain (1819-21) ; the "Missouri Compromise" (1820), by which the first conflict over slavery under the constitution was peacefully adjusted; the veto of the Cumberland Road bill (1822) on constitutional grounds; and—most intimately connected with Monroe's name—the enun ciation in the presidential message of Dec. 2, 1823, of what has since been known as the Monroe Doctrine (q.v.), which has pro foundly influenced the foreign policy of the United States.
On the expiration of his second term Monroe retired to his home at Oak Hill, Loudoun county, Virginia. In 1826 he became a regent of the University of Virginia, and in 1829 was a member of the convention called to amend the state constitution. Having neglected his private affairs and incurred large expenditures during his missions to Europe, he experienced considerable pecuniary embarrassment in his later years, and was compelled to ask Con gress to reimburse him for his expenses in the public service. Con gress finally (in 1826) authorized the payment of $30,000 to him, and after his death appropriated a small amount for the purchase of his papers from his heirs. He died in New York city on July 4, 1831, while visiting his daughter. In 1858, the centen nial year of his birth, his remains were reinterred with impressive ceremonies at Richmond, Virginia. Jefferson, Madison, John Quincy Adams, Calhoun and Benton all speak loudly in Monroe's praise ; but he suffers by comparison with the greater statesmen of his time. Possessing none of their brilliance, he had, neverthe
less, to use the words of John Quincy Adams, "a mind . . . sound in its ultimate judgments, and firm in its final conclusions." Schouler points out that like Washington and Lincoln he was "conspicuous . . . for patient considerateness to all sides." Mon roe was about 6ft. tall, but, being stoop-shouldered and rather un gainly, seemed less; his eyes, a greyish blue, were deep-set and kindly; his face was delicate, naturally refined, and prematurely lined. The best-known portrait, that by Vanderlyn, is in the New York City Hall. Monroe was married in 1786 to Elizabeth Kort wright (1768-1830) of New York, and at his death was survived by two daughters.
See The Writings of James Monroe (1898-1903), edited by S. M. Hamilton ; Daniel C. Gilman, James Monroe, in the "American Statesman Series" (Boston, 1883) ; J. R. Irelan, History of the Life, Administration and Times of James Monroe, being vol. v. of his Republic (Chicago, 1887) ; John Quincy Adams, The Lives of James Madison and James Monroe (Buffalo, 1850) ; B. W. Bond, jun., Monroe's Mission to France, 1794-1796 (Baltimore, 1907) ; Henry Adams, History of the United States (1889-91), containing a full but unsympathetic account of Monroe's career as a diplomatist ; and James Schouler, History of the United States, vols. ii. and iii. (1894), which estimates his public services highly. 'For more recent estimates see George Morgan, The Life of James Monroe (Boston, 1921) ; and William A. McCorkle, The Personal Genesis of the Monroe Doctrine (1923) ; and "Text from Messages Enunciating Famous Monroe Doctrine and Roosevelt Corollary," Cong. Digest, vol. vi., p. 114-115 (1927).