[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 63 (Tuesday, April 28, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E991]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         RECOGNIZING JAMES MONROE, THE NATION'S FIFTH PRESIDENT

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                         HON. ROBERT J. WITTMAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 28, 2009

  Mr. WITTMAN of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I am privileged to rise today 
to honor the birth and life of our nation's fifth president, James 
Monroe. Today, 251 years ago in 1758, James Monroe was born in a little 
farmhouse in Westmoreland County, Virginia.
  Monroe, one of five children of Spence Monroe and Elizabeth Jones, 
was raised and educated in what is now the First District of the 
Commonwealth of Virginia. James Monroe entered the College of William 
and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia at the age of 16. He left the 
college in 1775 to go to war, fighting with George Washington at Valley 
Forge.
  Monroe married Elizabeth Kortright on February 16, 1786. The couple 
had three children: Eliza Kortright Monroe (1786-1835), James Spence 
Monroe (1799-1800), and Maria Hester Monroe (1803-1850).
  As an aide to Governor Thomas Jefferson, Monroe studied and practiced 
law in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Monroe was an astute politician, 
serving as a member of the Virginia State Legislature, Governor of the 
Commonwealth of Virginia, Member of Congress and U.S. Senator, and 
Secretary of State and Secretary of War to President James Madison. 
Monroe served as Minister to France, under the first Jefferson 
administration, and assisted with the negotiation of the Louisiana 
Purchase.
  James Monroe was elected the fifth President of the United States in 
1817. During his early years in the White House, his administration was 
known as the ``Era of Good Feelings''. President Monroe went on two 
long national tours in order to gain the trust and faith of the 
American people. Monroe's strong opinions against foreign colonization 
or intervention in the Americas and his principles on foreign policy 
came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine, which he may be best 
remembered for. Monroe died there on July 4, 1831, the fifty-fifth 
anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
  The citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia and Virginia's First 
Congressional District express their appreciation to James Monroe in 
honor of his birthday 251 years ago. As the last American President of 
the ``Virginia Dynasty'', James Monroe was a loyal public servant, a 
President of the people, as well as an exceptional statesman. His 
ideals and leadership qualities left a lasting legacy in the 
Commonwealth of Virginia and across the nation.

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