Paintings of Presidents 5 and 6, James Monroe and John Quincy Adams

Click to enlarge President James Monroe

James Monroe succeeded President James Madison, and was easily elected with almost no opposition. He won re-election in 1820 by a landslide and took every electoral vote except one.

The best deal of his Presidency? He bought Florida from Spain for about $5 million. Monroe had a long career as a soldier, diplomat, governor, senator, and cabinet official. His eight years in office were mostly prosperous and uneventful. He is best known for the Monroe Doctrine, which became a backbone of U.S. foreign policy. The Monroe Doctrine basically said that America would resist European intervention in the Western Hemisphere. In other words: "not in our house!"


Click JQA to enlarge

John Quincy Adams, the son of POTUS No. 2, attended Harvard and held several diplomatic posts over the years. He was elected to the Senate in 1803 and after 1809, held many other diplomatic posts. As Secretary of State for James Monroe, he worked closely with POTUS 5 to formulate The Monroe Doctrine.

In 1825, no presidential candidate received a majority of electoral votes. Adams, with the support of Henry Clay, was elected President by the House of Representatives over Andrew Jackson. His independence did not sit well with The Federalists, who kicked him out of the party. Leaving the White House, Adams ran for the House as a Whig, and stayed there many years, and in fact, experienced a stroke on the floor of the House and died two days later.
---o0o---