James Monroe entered the college when he was 16 years old. He cut his college studies short in 1776 to join the Continental Army and fight for independence from Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War. During the War, James Monroe became acquainted with Thomas Jefferson, then the governor of Virginia.In 1780, Monroe began studying law under Jefferson, who would become his political mentor.

Monroe embarked on a career in politics. In 1782, he became a delegate in the Virginia Assembly and the following year was chosen as a Virginia representative to the Congress of the Confederation. After 4 years late, Monroe met his wife, Elizabeth Kortright.

While in Congress, Monroe supported the efforts of fellow Virginia politician James Madison to create a new U.S. constitution. In 1792, Monroe joined forces with the two men to found the Democratic-Republican Party, which opposed Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists who were fighting for increased federal power.

When Monroe became governor of Virginia, he resumed his political career in 1799. He held this office for three years until President Thomas Jefferson requested that Monroe return to France to help negotiate the purchase of the port of New Orleans.

When James Monroe was sworn into office on March 4, 1817, Monroe became the first U.S. president to have his ceremony outdoors and give his inaugural address to the public. The new president and his family could not take up immediate residence in the White House, because it had been destroyed by the British in 1814. Instead, they lived in a home on I Street in Washington, until the rebuilt White House was ready for occupancy in 1818.

Later in his life in 1825, Monroe left office and retired to Virginia, where he helped preside over a new state constitution in 1829. After his wife died in 1830, Monroe moved in with his daughter in New York City, where he died on July 4, 1831, at age 73. In 1858, Monroe’s body was re-interred at the Hollywood Cemetery in his home state of Virginia.