James Monroe. What can you say? Terrible president. A genius of a man--(don't get me wrong)--but a rotten president--rotten, rotten, rotten. His terms (1817-1825) are misnamed the Era of Good Feeling. Such spanned all eight years--including the shattering Panic of 1819 which came about due to overspeculation in Western lands. In short, Monroe is given credit for what other people did in his administration. If the Era of GF was indeed the Era of GF it was because of the nationalism and pride in America the American people felt following the War of 1812. Therefore, shouldn't Madison be given more credit? Why give it to Monroe? He had hardly anything to do with it. And also--the Monroe Doctrine. Yes, Monroe SAID it--but the doctrine was the idea and brainchild of J. Q. Adams, the brilliant and brainy Secretary of State and future president, who wanted to make the US beam singularly and solitarily in the world instead of issuing a joint statement with Britain denouncing European imperialism, a statement the British offered to make, a statement which Adams rejected in his political understanding of the situation. Great man. Regarding the doctrine, Monroe didn't even like the idea at first. And the "purchase" of Florida was also part of Adam's resume, not Monroe's. Florida never would have been purchased if it wasn't for Adam's singular support of Andrew Jackson's raid into Florida. It seems that Jimmy Monroe has spent his administrations riding on other people's coattails.