James Monroe

On James Monroe I read Tim McGrath’s “James Monroe: A Life”.

I read this book a while ago. And my memory isn’t so good.

I do remember the author doing a wonderful job capturing the magic of James Monroe’s tours of the United States. McGrath convinced me this was a president who cared for unity and pragmatic decisions. That Monroe saw something past party. The politics of the United States today are red-team, blue-team with little down the middle. Politicians prioritize these parties. And these parties prioritize ideologies.

A first impression might be that we should return to leaders like Monroe. To unite us, stop the chaos, and keep the status quo. But the status quo of the 1820s was wretched slavery. And on that issue Monroe knew it was immoral but pragmatism pushed him into the financial practicality of owning slaves himself. And pragmatism pushed him away from the violence necessary to strip Southern slavers. And pragmatism put him onto an impossible, pie in the sky, idea of relocating slaves to a new colony in Africa.

I started reading presidential biographies to see if I could find guiding principles to lead my own life by. These were men (and I hope by the time I’m reading recent presidents, women) who reached the pinnacle of civic ambition. Surely, they might all be onto some great truth that I too could follow. As I get deeper down the list I uncover more questions than answers.

Is it better to follow paralyzing principle and bang your head on the rocks of societal wrongs? Or is it better to steer around these cliffs and find progress elsewhere, pragmatically kicking the proverbial can down the road for future crises.

I don’t know.