The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation’s Call to Greatness

The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation’s Call to Greatness by Harlow Giles Unger

This author is a bit of an unknown for me. Looking at his other works on Amazon, it’s obvious that his tastes and subjects seem to be around key figures in American History from the late eighteenth/early nineteenth centuries.  This book was very easy to read – perhaps one of easiest of any biography I’ve ever read. Some may see that as a detriment, or even an insult, but I certainly don’t mean it to be. If I was approached by a 17-year-old high school student who “had” to read an American biography, I might just recommend this one due to its easy-to-understand prose.  It also features illustrations throughout as opposed the “middle sections” which never translate well when reading an e-book.

Branding Monroe as ‘The Last Founding Father’ is a quite accurate statement. He was the nation’s fifth president and actually served in the Revolutionary War as a teenager. Because of this, the author provides many glimpses into the factors that formed the new nation in the 1770s and 1780s. If you’ve read a lot of history like I have, you shouldn’t expect many revelations, but it’s nice to see a different figure in the center spotlight. Critics have stated that the author fawns a bit too much on his subject matter.  I didn’t really see this is the case, although it was biased in some areas. Strangely, he gives Monroe most of the credit for The Louisiana Purchase (although most attribute it to Thomas Jefferson), and, despite its name, The Monroe Doctrine is usually credited to John Quincy Adams – but not here. 

So, yes, some skepticism should be in order, but the author seems o.k. with attributing some of the diplomacy failures with France and England to Monroe, as well as point out his rather quirky introverted family. Monroe adored his wife Elizabeth, but she was definitely not the socialite that the young nation expected from a First Lady – especially following such a character as Dolley Madison. So parties in the White House were kept to a minimum and were quite unembellished.

What I did find peculiar is that this author hated – I mean REALLY hated Monroe’s predecessor James Madison.  I’ve never heard such vitriolic diatribes pointing to the fourth president as I have here. If you were to believe this author, you would believe that Madison was a little, sniveling, sickly incompetent boob. I found this rather strange and somewhat unfair. I would recommend Lynne Cheney’s bio of Madison for a different, more balanced viewpoint.

Once you get past the most popular presidents in U.S. history, there aren’t a lot of choices if you want a well-researched bio.  James Monroe is probably a name that (sadly) many Americans aren’t familiar with, but I would definitely rate this book highly.  The book is not very detailed yet paints a very good, overall picture of the man.  Just expect some biases – good and bad – of some of the key players.