Here is some trivia about James Monroe:
- He preferred to be addressed as “Colonel Monroe” throughout his career – even as President!
- He continued to dress in the style of the Revolutionary War era because he wanted people to remember the importance of that conflict.
- His daughter Maria was the first presidential daughter to be married in the White House, on March 9, 1820. Celebrations were dampened, however, when Commodore Stephen Decatur was murdered in a duel at one of the balls held in honor of the wedding!
- He affectionately called his elder daughter Eliza, “the little monkey.”
- No one ran against Monroe for the presidency in 1820.
- The capital of Liberia, Monrovia, was named for him. It is the only non-U.S. capital city to be named after a U.S. president.
- Monroe initially voted against ratifying the U.S. Constitution – because he felt it needed a Bill of Rights.
- Illinois, Alabama, Maine, Missouri and Mississippi were admitted to the union during Monroe’s presidency.
- Monroe is featured in the famous painting “Washington Crossing the Delaware.” He is the man behind Washington holding the flag.
- Monroe died on the Fourth of July, 1831. He was the third president to die on the Fourth – Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826.
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