James Monroe Essay Example

James Monroe was the fifth president of the United States of America. He was a very intelligent man and was a good candidate to run the country. He was able to do many great things while he was the president. James Monroe was born on April 28, 1758, in Westmoreland, Virginia. Monroe was the son of Spence Monroe, who was a carpenter, and Elizabeth Jones Monroe. Monroe was one of five children. When Monroe was young he attended the school of Parson Campbell. To get to the school he had to walk several miles through the forest that his house was located near. Monroe went to the college of William & Mary, while he was sixteen years old, in 1774. He found it hard to concentrate there because the American Colonies were inching nearer to starting a war with Great Britain (World Book Encyclopedia 734). In 1775 Monroe left college to go to war. He became a lieutenant in the Third Virginia Regiment of the Continental Army. In a battle in 1776 his commanding officer was shot and killed and he was put in charge of the battle and received a minor injury from being shot in the chest. Once he recovered he was named aide-de-camp to Major General Lord Sterling. He fought in the Battle of Brandywine and the Battle of Germantown before meeting General George Washington at Valley Forge. In 1779 Monroe, who was now a major, left the Northern Army and went back to Virginia with several letters of recommendation, including one from General George Washington. The Virginia Legislature made him a lieutenant colonel and commissioned him to lead a militia. The militia never got formed, and this was the end of Monroe’s military career (Fitz-Gerald 21-28). Monroe’s first political job was being an aide to Thomas Jefferson, who was at the time the governor of Virginia. Jefferson made Monroe is apprentice in the study of law while he was his aide. When Monroe was twenty-four he moved to Prince Edward County, Virginia, and was immediately elected to the state legislature, in 1782. In 1783