A Leader with Conviction

James was born and raised in Virginia. He became governor of Virginia in 1811 and became the Republican choice for the Presidency in 1816. He had little opposition in 1820 and was able to win reelection.

With the help of John Quincy Adams, he developed the principles of United States foreign policy, later called the Monroe Doctrine. He died in 1831. He was our fifth president.

James Monroe said about God’s blessings, “For these blessings we owe to Almighty God from whom we derive them, and with profound reverence, our most grateful and unceasing acknowledgements… That these blessings may be preserved and perpetuated will be the object of my fervent and unceasing prayers to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe.

“For advantages so numerous and highly important, it is our duty to unite in grateful acknowledgements to that omnipotent Being from whom they are derived, and in unceasing prayer that He will endow us with virtue and strength to maintain and hand them down in their utmost purity to our latest posterity.” This came from a speech he gave as the first annual message presented in written form to Congress, December 12, 1817.

Today more than ever we need such leaders who will look to the very One who said, “If you will commit your ways unto me I will direct your path” (Psalm 37). It is as true today as when James Monroe wrote it in 1815.