With the start
of the 21st century upon us, we
have noticed many changes. The
basic foundation of our country
government is still there, but
ideas in politics have changed a
lot since James Monroe’s time.
Overseas policies have changed a
lot from just the 20th to the 21st
century let alone when James
Monroe was around. Some of George
W. Bush’s idea may have come
from Monroe. Monroe had a lot of
the conservative ideas that George
W. Bush had like strengthening the
army as an example. Some of
Monroe’s ideas would still fit
in at the White House today,
however others would not, and
through this essay I would like to
explain why I think this is true.
In George W.
Bush’s campaign he was quoted,
as saying many times that he wants
to improve our national army. This
is something Monroe believed in
heavily throughout his political
career. During the Revolutionary
War, and after a defeat of the
British in Baltimore, Monroe
worked toward creating a strong
national army, which the country
was lacking. They only had state
militias which weren’t strong
enough he did not think to hold
off a larger war if it came upon
them. That is the point I think
George W. Bush is also trying to
get across in a way. He is
basically saying the US army is
weak right now and needs to be
stronger in order for later,
because we may need a larger more
trained army later. When Monroe
became President he tired
valiantly to protect the Army and
Navy against cuts and thus helping
his popularity. This is also
something Bush tried to do with
his campaign for president.
In the 21st
century, the US I believe still
has the same ideas about other
countries from Europe or that
hemisphere coming into our
hemisphere and taking our land.
The US still to this day I think
is very anti-imperialism. Monroe
believed that any attempt to take
lands in this hemisphere would be
a danger to our country. I still
believe this is very evident in
America. We don’t like other
countries taking over other
countries in this hemisphere,
because we still think that it
would be a threat to the United
States. Like the situation with
the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. Monroe
totally was against this and
vocalized this thought many times,
which later led to some other
ideas concerning the Monroe
Doctrine. He also believed that we
should not meddle with other
European Powers. This however is
something that we do in the United
States. The United States lately
in the late 20th and early 21st
century likes to get into other
nation’s business. I can
understand this reasoning, because
if this was not done then the US
would probably be hurting right
now. So that’s something that is
different now then it was then.
Monroe also
wanted desperately to maintain
friendships with European Powers.
He thought that this would keep
boost the economy, which it did.
He also thought that this would
help out with wars if they were to
arise all of a sudden. He thought
that you never know when you will
need allies and their help in a
war. Today, this idea is still
evident. The US likes to try to
still keep the relation between
European countries in order to
make allies, because otherwise the
US might be hurting when a war
comes around. Monroe said,” to
cultivate relations with them1”
speaking of European nations. This
is the relation I’m sure Bush
wants for the start of the 21st
century, so this idea is this
evident.
Monroe also had
ideas about strengthening the
federal government. Monroe
believed that the president should
be elected by the people. He
thought they should be elected by
popularity not by the Electoral
College. This is something that
might be coming up in the 21st
century due to what happened in
the presidential election this
year between Al Gore and George W.
Bush. We could see another one of
Monroe’s positions’s lived out
if this ever comes into
questioning again. Which I think
possibly we will see this come
into argument heavily very soon,
because of Al Gore winning the
popular vote and not the Electoral
College. Therefore making Bush the
president. I think that if Bush
has one big mistake while he is in
office they will start to really
reconsider the way that the
President is elected and we will
have another one of Monroe’s
idea’s in our government.
President
Monroe was a very conservative man
that brought us many ideas about
how our country should be founded.
Some of these ideas are still
intact today and some came and
went. Though one has stayed and
probably will stay for a very long
time and has contributed heavily
to our success as a country. The
Monroe Doctrine was a peace of
writing that revolutionized the
way we deal with Europe. Still in
the 21st Century the US considers
this one of its backbones to
politics. Foreign Policy would not
have been much without Monroe’s
Doctrine. The Document laid forth
what we will follow through the
21st century and beyond. Monroe
thought it would be dangerous to
our peace and safety if other
countries decided to conquer
countries in the America’s.
Basically though what Monroe was
trying to get across was that it
wanted to deal with it’s own
problems and would not meddle in
the European powers problems. This
however is something the US has
and I am sure will keep doing. The
US does meddle and if they did not
we probably would not be able to
find out who has nuclear weapons
and what not. I think this part of
the Monroe Doctrine is what common
people in the US want, but
nowadays I don’t think is
possible with all the weapons of
mass destruction going around.
That was Monroe’s man point he
wanted to keep our peace and
safety and that is what the US is
still trying to do in the 21st
century and will do for the next
century.
Wilmerding,
Jr., Lucuis, James Monroe: Public
Claimant (Rutgers, The State
University, 1960)
Cresson, W.P.,
James Monroe (Shoe String 1971)
Cunningham,
Noble E., The Presidency of James
Monroe (U of KS, 1996)
Duval Jr.,
Miles P., James Monroe: An
Appreciation (James Monroe
Memorial Foundation, 1982)
