Six Presidents of the United States bore the name James. The fourth President of the U.S. was James Madison (1809-1817) known as “His Little Majesty” (as he was the shortest of all U.S. President standing at 5’6†tall). James Madison was one of the Fathers of the Constitution and a brilliant, well-prepared politician. His presidency was defined by two things: the war of 1812 and the popularity of his wife, Dolly Madison. Next came the 5th U.S. President, James Monroe (1817-1825). He was known as “The Era of Good Feelings President” because of his falsely easy presidency. He was noted for the “Missouri Compromise†(which allowed Missouri to enter the union as a slave state, even though he had made efforts to send slaves back to Africa, think: Monrovia) and the “Monroe Doctrine†(which rejected European attempts to colonize the western hemisphere). The 11th U.S. president was James Polk (1845-1849) who is sometimes referred to as the hardest working president in history. Also referred to as “Polk the Plodder,” the man set an agenda and made it happen. He secured the Oregon territory by threatening war with England, he brought California into statehood, he lowered tariffs, he established an independent Treasury and he went to war with Mexico to settle the Texas dispute. All of this in four years, and did not seek reelection. Unfortunately, he would die three months after his term ended. The 15th U.S. President, James Buchanan (1857-1861), was called “Ten-Cent Jimmie” for his insensitive comment that 10-cents a day was plenty for folks to live on. This James is usually ranked at the bottom of all presidents and was thankfully followed by Abraham Lincoln (to whom he said: “If you are as happy to be coming into the office of the Presidency as I am to leave it, then you are a very happy manâ€). James Garfield (1881-1881) was the country’s 20th President, whose presidency only lasted 200 days before being assassinated by a crazy man. Had Garfield served his term, historians speculate that he would have been determined to move toward civil service reform and carry on in the clean government tradition of President Hayes. He also supported education for black southerners and called for African American suffrage. Lastly, there was Jimmy Carter, the 39th U.S. President (1977-1981) who unfortunately inherited a White House riddled with problems after the Nixon/Ford debacles during a problematic time in U.S. history. While all historians agree that Carter was a president of great intellect, he was eventually referred to as “President Malaise” due to his “crisis of confidence†speech and the appearance that he did not have the White House under control. He is probably better known and respected for his accomplishments post-presidency.
