President James Monroe was one of the better presidents of the founding generation. You can debate whether he really counts as a founder, but he did participate in the American War for Independence and can be seen holding the stars & stripes alongside George Washington in Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s famous painting, Washington Crossing the Delaware. Monroe was only 18 at the time. While “The Last Founding Father” did not participate in the founding of the United States as extensively as Madison or Jefferson, he does represent another significant “last” of the founding generation, he is the last president to not have a photograph (the first known photograph was taken in 1827).

Therefore, to imagine Monroe, you have to go exclusively by paintings. Here is his original Louis Marx & Co. figurine, painted and unpainted:

Here is my version:

James Monroe fun fact: Monroe tends to get glossed over by historians, but he is undoubtably one of the most popular presidents of all-time. In 1812, he defeated Federalist Rufus King by a crushing 183-34 Electoral College majority. The Federalists were largely discredited after the War of 1812, and King only ended up carrying Massachusetts, Connecticut & Delaware. Monroe carried the remaining 16 states. Monroe then ran unopposed for his reelection in 1820, the only other president to do that besides George Washington. The popular president presided over “The Era of Good Feelings” which was embodied by a lack of party politics via the collapse of the Federalists. The Federalist party was often not federalist at all (the small “f” vs. big “F” distinction is important). Small “f” federalism means self-determination by the states, with a limited central authority that only has explicitly delegated powers. Big “F” Federalism, aka the Federalist party, was not federalist. They governed as nationalists, where the central government was the ultimate authority over the states.

Top-down government becomes a much bigger problem as we progress through the 19th century, and it remains a problem today. James Monroe embraced true Jeffersonian republicanism/federalism better than almost any other president and deserves to be recognized more favorably by historians.