Lessons From James Monroe, Who Defeated a Pandemic and Overcame Partisanship

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 7 July 2020

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

James Monroe, America’s fifth president and the last chief executive of the Founding Father generation, lived a life defined by revolutions. From the battlefields of the War for Independence, to his ambassadorship in Paris in the days of the guillotine, to his own role in the creation of Congress's partisan divide, he was a man who embodied the restless spirit of the age. He was never one to back down from a fight, whether it be with Alexander Hamilton, with whom he nearly engaged in a duel (prevented, ironically, by Aaron Burr), or George Washington, his hero turned political opponent.

Today’s guest, Tim McGrath, author of James Monroe: A life, discusses the epic sweep of Monroe’s life: his near-death wounding at Trenton and a brutal winter at Valley Forge; his pivotal negotiations with France over the Louisiana Purchase; his deep, complex friendships with Thomas Jefferson and James Madison; his valiant leadership when the British ransacked the nation’s capital and burned down the Executive Mansion; and Monroe’s lifelong struggle to reckon with his own complicity in slavery. Elected the fifth president of the United States in 1816, this fiercest of partisans sought to bridge divisions and sow unity, calming turbulent political seas and inheriting Washington's mantle of placing country above party. Over his two terms, Monroe transformed the nation, strengthening American power both at home and abroad.

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by Royal Mail, the UK's Greenest Delivery Company.
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0:34.4	The History of North America podcast is a sweeping historical saga of the United States, Canada
0:40.1	and Mexico from their deep origins to our present epoch.
0:44.3	Join me, Mark Vinet, on this exciting, fascinating epic journey through time, focusing on the compelling,
0:51.0	wonderful, and tragic stories of North America's inhabitants, heroes, villains,
0:56.5	leaders, environment, and geography.
0:59.6	I invite you to come along for the ride.
1:14.6	History is in just a bunch of names and dates and facts.
1:17.8	It's the collection of all the stories throughout human history that explain how and why we got here.
1:23.2	Welcome to the History Unplugged Podcast, where we look at the forgotten, neglected, strange,
1:28.2	and even counterfactual stories that made our world what it is.
1:32.2	I'm your host, Scott Rank.
1:42.7	James Monroe was our fifth president and the last of the founding father generation to hold chief executive office.
1:49.5	But he's usually forgotten among the early presidents because he didn't have the gravitas of George Washington,
1:54.5	the eloquence of Thomas Jefferson, or the political genius of James Madison to the same degree.
1:59.5	But he knew all three of them and was widely renowned for the wise and measured judgment that allowed him to bridge partisan divides.
	...

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