James Monroe

March 4, 2017 will be the 200th anniversary of the innaugural of one of our most misunderstood presidents, James Monroe. Despite the "zero" volume number, this actually is the third in written sequence and the second in ancestral sequence telling the story of our fifth president. Beyond examining final thoughts about the late stages of his Scottish heritage, this volume examines the heritage of the first three generations of American Monroes, including the president's great grandfather (captured in the English Civil Wars and sent in bondage to Maryland, only to rise as a large Virginia landholder), grandfather, and father. Though Monroe is not always the central figure in this volume, it is part of his biography, just as much as volumes 1 and 2. The origins of the president's views on slavery and Native Americans also are subjects explored in this volume. Volumes 1 and 2 of this series made it clear that Monroe had a secretive nature and that he kept his personal opinions to himself. His deepest secrets are not revealed in volumes 1 and 2. Instead, volume 0 (and -1), cross-referenced to volumes 1 and 2, unlock the code to what Monroe really thought about issues on which he had been raised to have opinions. The author, Allen Brockman, is an independent scholar living in Rural Virginia.