W. P. CressonCritiques

Few Presidents have been more sober and humorless. A descendant of a Scottish soldier who was banished to Virginia, James Monroe followed Madison's term of office, and was the third ex-President, with Adams and Jefferson, to die on July 4th, in 1831, on the eve of the Civil War.
In long nerve-wracking negotiations with Spain, he acquired Florida, brought the country past serious financial crisis, concluded the Missouri Compromise, published the "Monroe Doctrine". The Federalist Party disappeared in his term. He was succeeded by John Quincy Adams, his Secretary of State who successfully ran against his Secretary of War, John C. Calhoun.
Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, is named for him, a southern slave-holder. Monroe was a close friend of Madison and Jefferson. He died a widow, in penury and reclusion [494], and amid controversies both great and small.