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Book Overview
The former senator and presidential candidate offers a provocative new assessment of the first "national security president"
James Monroe is remembered today primarily for two things: for being the last of the "Virginia Dynasty"--following George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison--and for issuing the Monroe Doctrine, his statement of principles in 1823 that the western hemisphere was to be considered closed to European intervention. But Gary Hart sees Monroe as a president ahead of his time, whose priorities and accomplishments in establishing America's "national security" have a great deal in common with chief executives of our own time.Unlike his predecessors Jefferson and Madison, Monroe was at his core a military man. He joined the Continental Army at the age of seventeen and served with distinction in many pivotal battles. (He is prominently featured at Washington's side in the iconic painting Washington Crossing the Delaware.) And throughout his career as a senator, governor, ambassador, secretary of state, secretary of war, and president, he never lost sight of the fact that without secure borders and friendly relations with neighbors, the American people could never be truly safe in their independence. As president he embarked on an ambitious series of treaties, annexations, and military confrontations that would secure America's homeland against foreign attack for nearly two hundred years. Hart details the accomplishments and priorities of this forward-looking president, whose security concerns clearly echo those we face in our time.
Customer Reviews
Rated 5 starsAn Engaging Read
After reading the previous installment in The American Presidents series, on James Madison, I had begun to lose a little faith in this presidential journey that I had set out upon, as the content was so heavy and often very boring to wade through. This book, however, restored my confidence in the series going forward. Basically, this James Monroe biography is much more engaging than the previous two books in the series...
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Rated 5 starsRe-elected Without Opposition
Gary Hart was a US Senator 1975-1887 and the author of 14 books. He is senior counsel to a multi-national law firm. He has a Ph.D. in politics and shows his writing skills in the `Introduction'. Lt. James Monroe was 18 years old when he took part in the Battle of Trenton where he was wounded and promoted to Captain. The end of the war left him a colonel. This early military experience defined his future (p.3). Hart considers...
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Rated 5 starsTHE MONROE DOCTRINE IS REVISITED
A new biography in `The American Presidents' series by Times Books that are edited by famed historian Arthur Schlesinger has been issued that focuses on the presidency of James Monroe who is now barely remembered by the American public since he served in high office in the early 19th Century. Yet he ruled in a similar fashion to the tenure of today's George W. Bush by promoting a tough national security policy in the aftermath...
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Rated 5 starsA good bio
Mr. Hart provides a good bio, both complimentary and critical of President Monroe.
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Rated 4 starsToo Bad Hart Couldn't Resist....
letting his own political bias show through at the end. This is a well written, concise, very readable biography of the first "national security" president. Monroe is one of the most underrated and under appreciated presidents in our nation's history. Hart's book should help assuage that injustice. I have only two criticisms. Hart seemed to take the easy way out by utilizing previous research rather than conducting his...
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