THOMAS JEFFERSON

THE THIRD PRESIDENT

AARON BURR, VICE-PRESIDENT

GEORGE CLINTON, VICE-PRESIDENT

Born at Shadwell, Va., April 2, 1743. His ancestors on his father's side were Welsh, and were among the early settlers in Virginia. His mother, Jane Randolph, was English and was married to Peter Jefferson, the father of Thomas, in 1738. His early education was thorough. He had special instructions in Latin, Greek and French before he had reached his twelfth year. His father died when Thomas was fourteen years of age. In 1760 he entered William and Mary College at Williamsburg, then the capital of the colony, where he became a proficient student in mathematics and the classics. Later he studied law and was admitted to practice in 1767. His success was pronounced from that time. In 1769 he was elected a member of the House of Burgesses, where he made manifest his ideas against the transportation to England, for trial, of persons charged with treason in the colonies.

In 1772 he married Mrs. Martha Skelton, a wealthy widow, through whose dowry he became one of the largest land owners and slave holders in Virginia. In June, 1775, he became a member of the Continental Congress and was cordially greeted, his fame as a writer and advocate having preceded him. He was appointed one of a committee to draw up the Declaration of Independence and, as its chairman, gained full credit as its author, though suggestions were made by Franklin, Adams and other prominent men of the time. The Declaration was signed by the fifty-six members present, Dickinson, of Pennsylvania, being the only one to refuse.

In June, 1779, Jefferson was elected governor of Virginia, succeeding Patrick Henry. This was at the gloomiest period of the great war, for his state. The British armies had subjugated Georgia and the Carolinas, and the great majority of the younger men of the state were in the field with Washington. Jefferson, however, did everything in his power for his state, and with the assistance of the French fleet, and by the return of Washington, the tide was turned in his favor. He declined re-election in 1781, and returned to Congress in 1783, where he did much to establish our present system of coinage. In 1784 he, with Adams and Franklin, was appointed to negotiate trade treaties with the nations of Europe. In 1785 he succeeded Franklin as minister to France, where he did much to bring about a continuance of friendly relations and commerce. In 1789 he returned and accepted the duties of secretary of state under Washington, which office he resigned in 1794, and returned to Monticello, where his domestic tastes were partially gratified by the devotion of his daughter and her children.

On February 8, 1797, he was elected Vice-President under John Adams, with whom he differed radically on many national questions. His four years in office were not pleasing to him. In 1800 he was elected President, and was inaugurated at Washington, March 4, 1801. One of the most important acts of his first administration was the Louisiana purchase in April, 1803. The territory was almost an empire in itself, and Napoleon saw that it would be to the interests of France to sell, inasmuch as he had, at the time, numerous difficulties with other nations on his hands. Ohio was admitted to the Union February 19, 1803. Upon the recommendation of the President, the famous expedition under Lewis and Clarke was fitted out May 14, 1804, exploring the entire region of the great northwest to the Pacific coast.

He

March 4, 1805, Jefferson was inaugurated for his second term, with George Clinton as Vice-President. He grew steadily in popularity and influence, notwithstanding the opposition of the Federalists. He pushed forward with his lofty and practical ideas, and succeeded in establishing among the people substantial ideas of self-government. suggested the purchase of Florida for two million dollars, but was overruled by Congress, who later paid five million dollars for it. He declined a nomination for a third term. Mr. Jefferson, in 1816, was instrumental in founding the University of Virginia, of which he acted as rector until his death, July 4, 1826, the same day that death called his old enemy and friend Adams.

Thomas Jefferson lies buried in the little graveyard at Monticello, the only portion of the vast estate which he owned at the time of his death.

JAMES MADISON

THE FOURTH PRESIDENT

GEORGE CLINTON, VICE-PRESIDENT

Born at King George, Va., March 16, 1751, the eldest son of James Madison, who married Elanor Conway. His ancestors, who were of English descent, settled in Virginia in 1635. His father, being a man of ample means, provided him with the best educational surroundings, and in 1769 he entered Princeton College, from which he graduated in 1771, after which he read law and devoted much of his time to general literature and philosophy. In the spring of 1776 he was elected a member of the Virginia convention called to formulate a constitution for that state. In 1780 he was elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress, and, from that time, was regarded as one of the prominent men of his time. A Constitutional convention was called in 1787 to meet in Philadelphia. Here he was one of the chief framers of the Constitution, and later wrote many state papers in its defense. His labors in support of this great measure were so ardent and so effective that he became known as the "Father of the Constitution."

In 1789 he was elected to Congress, where he served for eight years. In 1793 he declined the office of secretary of state under Washington, but accepted the offer of Jefferson for the same office in 1801. He held this office for a period of eight years, during which time he demonstrated to the entire country his eminent qualifications as a diplomat. In 1794 he was married to Mrs. Dolly Todd, a beautiful and accomplished woman, who graced the executive mansion for sixteen years, having acted as first lady of the land while Madison was secretary of state under Jefferson. Their home life was most happy and, as the first lady of the land, she, through her queenly personality and manner, did as much to popularize the administration socially as any lady who has ever occupied the White House. She survived her husband by thirteen years.

In 1809, Madison succeeded Jefferson as President at a period of gloom and depression, but he was equal to all emergencies, and carried to a successful finish the task he had assumed. While the domestic affairs of the nation were in an unsettled condition, trouble with England was brewing. She had never been satisfied with the results of the Revolution, and never lost an opportunity to humble her former subjects. She trampled upon American rights on the high seas, boarded American vessels, and impressed our sailors into her service. All appeals to the mother country to respect her treaty obligations were ignored. Forbearance had ceased to be a virtue, however, and war was declared against England in June, 1812.

Though his war measures were not sustained by New England, Mr. Madison was re-elected for a second term, and carried to a successful ending his policies. The war with England was carried on for three years, during which time Washington was burned, Detroit was surrendered, Perry won his magnificent victory on Lake Erie and Harrison defeated the British and Indians on the river Thames, which brought back to us Michigan and virtually ended the war. On the eighth of January, 1815, the British were hopelessly defeated at New Orleans by General Jackson. Early in 1815 a treaty of commerce was signed in London. Louisiana was admitted in 1812, and Indiana in 1816. After the close of the war, a national bank with a capital of thirty-five million dollars was established; a tariff for the promotion of industries was adopted and the whole country started on the tide of prosperity. Though the results of the war seemed, at the time, disastrous to America, they proved eventually to be of the highest advantage, inasmuch as they gave the country a higher standing among the nations of the world.

Mr. Madison retired from public life March 4, 1817, and spent his remaining days at his home, Montpelier, Va. Twelve years later he served in the Virginia Convention called for the purpose of revising the Constitution. He, like Jefferson, took a deep interest in the University of Virginia, and, at one time, served as its rector.

The state papers of Madison are conceded, by the highest authorities, to be among the ablest ever produced in any country. His personal reports of the various debates of the Congresses were purchased from his widow, by Congress, after his death. He died June 28, 1836, at the age of eighty-five. His remains, with those of his wife, are interred at his early home, Montpelier, Va.

JAMES MONROE

THE FIFTH PRESIDENT

DANIEL T. TOMPKINS, VICE-PRESIDENT

Born in Westmoreland County, Va., April 28, 1758. His ancestors were Scotch, who emigrated to this country at an early day. His father, Spence Monroe, and his mother, Eliza Jones, were both born in Virginia. He enjoyed all of the educational advantages of the time and, at an early age, entered William and Mary College, which he left in 1776 to enlist at Washington's quarters in New York. After the battle of Monmouth he retired from the army and took up the study of law in the office of Thomas Jefferson, and, when but twenty-five years of age, was elected to Congress. After leaving Congress, he was elected a member of the Virginia legislature and vigorously opposed the acceptance, by his state, of the Constitution, on the grounds that it was too monarchical and conferred too much power on the executive. In later years, he, like Jefferson, became one of its most ardent supporters.

On December 6, 1790, he was elected to the Senate of the United States, where he excelled as a practical and business-like legislator, though he was not on friendly terms with the federal leaders. He was, however, on terms of personal friendship with Washington, who appointed him Minister to France in 1794. He was recalled in 1796, charged with having expressed too much solicitude for France. He later published a volume in his own defense, and time demonstrated that the charges were ill-founded. In 1803 he was again sent to France, where he was of great assistance to our minister, Mr. Livingston, in completing the Louisiana purchase for fifteen million dollars. He then proceeded to England as Minister to St. James, where his efforts to bring about a treaty acceptable to President Jefferson were futile, the existing differences growing greater until the War of 1812 resulted. Mr. Monroe was twice elected governor of Virginia, but resigned in 1811 to become Madison's secretary of state. In this office he found much of importance to occupy his great business mind. On the removal of the secretary of war for inefficiency, Mr. Monroe discharged the duties of that office together with those of his own. He even pledged his own private fortune for the defense of New Orleans, and assisted materially in bringing the second war with England to a close.

He was inaugurated as President March 4, 1816, and served two full terms, with John Quincy Adams as secretary of state. His two terms were those of peace with foreign nations, and were known as the "era of good-feeling." The Seminole Indians, together with the Creeks, began depredations in Georgia and Alabama, and General Jackson was sent to subdue them. Jackson was successful, and was appointed first governor of Florida, which was purchased from Spain in 1819. Mississippi was admitted in 1817, Illinois in 1818, Alabama in 1819, Main in 1820; Missouri applied for admission in 1821, but its application as a slave state was strongly opposed by the North. The act known as the "Missouri Compromise" was passed, and Missouri was admitted in 1821. In 1823 President Monroe sent to Congress a message inspired by the overtures made by Russia and other European countries touching upon matters pertaining to the South American Republics and Mexico. This message, now known as the "Monroe Doctrine," gave Europe warning that "we should consider any attempt on the part of European powers to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere, as dangerous to our peace and safety."

After the election of his successor, he retired to private life and spent most of his time at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Governeur, in New York. Before going to New York, however, he served for some time as justice of the peace in Virginia. He also served with Madison and Jefferson as regent of the University of Virginia.

Mr. Monroe's declining years found him distressed financially, the nation, to whom he had given sixty years of his life, allowing him to suffer. He died July 4, 1831, being the third President to die on that date. His remains were buried in New York until July 5, 1858, when they were, by the people of the state which he had so highly honored, reinterred in Hollywood cemetery at Richmond.