James Monroe (28th of April, 1758 - 4th July, 1831) was the fifth President of the United States, serving two terms from 1817 to 1825.

Monroe easily won the 1816 Presidential election, and was re-elected to his second term in 1820. Monroe's popularity as president coincided with what has been termed the 'Era of Good Feelings', a period which saw relative political harmony, and little partisanship within politics, something Monroe did much to encourage. His first term is remembered for the Panic of 1819, the first major financial crisis in the United States which caused bank failures, extensive unemployment and a decline in manufacturing and farming. Monroe is also famous for his proclamation of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, which declared that that the Western Hemisphere was closed to further European colonization and threatened to...

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