The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness

I have thoroughly enjoyed this single volume narrative of the life and especially the presidency of James Monroe. Having been on an early republic biographical kick for the past couple of months, I have knocked off R.N. Smith's Patriarch about Washington, R. Chernow's Alexander Hamilton (fantastic and exhaustive), E.P. Crapol's John Tyler, J. Meacham's American Lion, with W.R. Borneman's Polk waiting on the shelf. Unger's Monroe has been a wonderful read, but I wish that editors would do a better job of correcting copy before going to print. As I got to the end, on page 314, there is a glaring error as the narrative states that "On December 2, 1783, Monroe strode into Congress to deliver his seventh annual message to that body." Well, I do not know exactly what James Monroe was doing on December 2, 1783 (most likely, he was hanging out with fellow Virginian Thomas Jefferson because they had both been elected to the new Congress, and Monroe was broke and Jefferson had money), but he was certainly not addressing Congress as the President, since the excecutive branch did not yet exist and the only Congress was the Confederation Congress rapidly showing its inability to effectively deal with the issues of a new nation of sovereign states. However, on December 2, 1823, James Monroe was in fact the president and was addressing a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives for the seventh time as the chief executive officer. I was so enjoying the narrative until this derailment over a simple editorial oversight in the chronology. Otherwise, an excellent book.

Our founding fathers were extraordinary men and Monroe is no exception. His dedication to our fledgling country and the sacrifices he made to ensure we prospered are nothing short of astounding. Monroe was a true revolutionary hero in every sense of the word.

James Monroe was the last president to actively participate in the Revolutionary War and one of the first to preside over an expanding America that made his friend Thomas Jefferson's dream of an "Empire of Liberty" come true. He lived in exciting times, besides fighting on the Patriot side he saw firsthand another revolution, the French, going in a wrong direction, leading through ever-increasing bloodshed and terror to a new dictatorship, not a new birth of freedom. He served his home state (pardon, his Commonwealth) of Virginia and his country in several functions, not the least of which was becoming one of the few dynamic and competent leaders the nation had in the disastrous War of 1812. He was President during a time that has been rightfully called "The Era of Good Feeling" - which other Chief Executive can boast of that ? Besides, he was a happily married man whose life was free of any scandals. To sum it up, Unger's book might be full of praise, even of adulation. But it is heaped upon a character who deserves it - and with it, even almost two centuries later, the gratitude of his fellow Americans. It is a wonderful book, particularly for cozy, long winter evenings.