PERIODIC PRESIDENTS on BOBBLEHEAD GEORGE

All good things must come to an end, and for our first generation of Presidents, “The Founders,” James Monroe was the end of the line. Monroe was the last of the Virginia Dynasty which included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. As he was the last of this generation to serve as President, he is sometimes referred to as “The Last Cocked Hat."

 

By the time the 8th President Election occurred in 1816, The Federalist party had all but disappeared The remaining members endorsed Rufus King of New York.  Monroe, being very popular, a framer of the Constitution, and Revolutionary War hero, was easily elected.

 

For the 1820 Presidential Election, President Monroe ran unopposed.  It would have been a unanimous victory (the first and only since Washington’s victory) but for one elector casting a ballot for John Quincy Adams.  Some say he wanted to keep Washington as the sole person to win unanimously.  Others say that he simply did not like Monroe and did not want to cast his ballot for the incumbent.

 

Monroe’s Presidency is perhaps best known for the “Monroe Doctrine” which was a policy that opposed European Intervention in the Americas. Monroe was also President during the “Era of Good Feelings”. This was the time period following the War of 1812, where although the Democratic-Republicans dominated politics, the country experienced much tension and division. 

​

President Monroe passed away at the age of 73, on July 4, 1831, in New York. Monroe was the third of the first generation of Presidents to die on Independence Day, the others being Adams and Jefferson.