Not Your Father's Founders (18 page)

Fauquier County, Virginia
September 24, 1755–July 6, 1835
Late Bloomer

John Marshall began his law career with a capable mentor: He studied under George Wythe, one of Virginia's leading eighteenth-century lawyers. Marshall quickly acquired a reputation for integrity and political acumen that led to his success as a legislator and judge.

He began his political career by serving one term in the Virginia General Assembly, representing Fauquier County. Later, he served on the Council of State from 1782 to 1784. Immediately thereafter, Marshall returned to the Virginia Assembly. This time, he represented Henrico County, from 1784 to 1787. He also served in June of 1788 as a delegate to the Virginia state convention assembled to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

Political opportunities were limited in Fauquier County, so Marshall moved to Richmond, Virginia, in 1785. He plunged into local politics, albeit unsuccessfully at first. He ran for the city council, but placed second. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The runner-up prize was a position as city recorder. That served him in good stead in his legal career.

The city recorder's duty was to sit as a magistrate on a local court that handled minor civil and criminal cases. The position was a steppingstone for Marshall to higher court positions.

The experience in the Richmond court earned him a reputation that would follow him for the rest of his legal career. He was known as a man who adhered rigidly to three principles: subordinating self-interest to the public good, controlling oneself by reason, and maintaining a sense of duty.

Marshall combined his judicial and political responsibilities throughout the late 1700s. He served in the Virginia Assembly from 1782–91 and 1795–97. His accomplishments as a lawyer and judge over that time caught President George Washington's attention. Washington offered Marshall two positions: attorney general and minister to France in the mid-1790s. He declined both in favor of something bigger. Marshall's break came in 1800, when President John Adams named him as secretary of state.

Marshall served as secretary of state from June 13, 1800, to March 13, 1801. On January 20, 1801, the outgoing president nominated him as chief justice of the Supreme Court. Marshall did not step down for thirty-four years. He was the longest-serving Supreme Court justice in U.S. history.

Marshall made a major difference during his lengthy stint as the chief justice. Among his most significant accomplishments: he established the principle of judicial review, ruled that state judiciaries could set aside state legislative acts if they conflicted with the federal Constitution, and said that the U.S. Supreme Court could reverse a decision of a state court. He did note, however, that the powers of government were limited.

The cumulative effect of the three rulings was to increase the power of the Supreme Court as a branch of the federal government, emphasize the role of the judiciary in the states, and reinforce the national supremacy of the federal government.

Amazingly, even though Marshall served on the Supreme Court for thirty-four years, he did not render many significantly controversial rulings. One of the few that stood out, Marbury v. Madison (1803), set a precedent that affects the way the federal government operates today.

Marbury v. Madison involved a refusal by President Jefferson's secretary of state, James Madison, to deliver William Marbury's commission as a justice of the peace in Washington, D.C. Marbury asked the court to compel the government to grant his commission. The Supreme Court justices ruled that he was entitled to the commissions. But they said the Judiciary Act of 1789, which had given the court the power to grant it, was inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution. Therefore, they declared, the act was invalid.

The ruling made the Supreme Court the final decision maker regarding the constitutionality of congressional legislation.

In another well-known case, the Supreme Court under Marshall exonerated Aaron Burr of treason, after a June 24, 1807, indictment on charges that he had instigated a war against Spain. The case stemmed from a bizarre incident which then President Thomas Jefferson knew nothing about, even though it could have led the United States into a war.

In 1805 Burr had held secret meetings with Brigadier General James Wilkinson, governor of the Louisiana Territory, commander of the U.S. Army, and a secret agent of the Spanish Crown, regarding the purchase of one million acres of land in the south on which Burr would build his own empire.

Just who owned the land was in question. Spain claimed part of it, and threatened to go to war with the United States over the issue. Another chunk of the land would be taken from Mexico. Wilkinson agreed to supply U.S. troops for the invasion as part of the scheme. The plan unraveled when Wilkinson advised President Jefferson of what was happening. Burr was captured and charged with treason.

The case reached the Supreme Court, which ruled that Burr may have been guilty of something, but it was not treason. The man who had killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel walked free. He never did set up his own empire.

Marshall walked a tightrope in his years as chief justice. He consistently ruled fairly and impartially, and set judicial precedents that the Supreme Court is still following two centuries later.

Westmoreland County, Virginia
April 28, 1758–July 4, 1831
The Birth of NIMBY-ism

James Monroe entered the College of William & Mary at age sixteen, but left shortly thereafter to fight in the Revolutionary War with the Third Virginia Regiment. Actually, his fight against the British began before he left the campus, as he participated in rebellious activities around Williamsburg that surpassed the normal student pranks. James Monroe and a few classmates raided the arsenal at the British governor's palace in Williamsburg. They captured 200 muskets and 300 swords, which they turned over to the Virginia militia. Not many of the Founding Fathers carried out “pranks” of that magnitude.

The young lieutenant managed to be where the fighting took place early in the war. He fought at Harlem Heights, White Plains, Trenton, Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. He was one of five American casualties at the Battle of Trenton in December 1776. A musket ball struck Monroe in the left shoulder and severed an artery. A New Jersey physician named Dr. John Riker clamped the artery quickly enough to stop the bleeding—and save the future president's life.

Eventually, he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel owing to General Washington's influence, but he left the army in 1780 to pursue his law studies.

Monroe had an uncanny knack for befriending illustrious political figures. In addition to drawing George Washington's attention during the Revolutionary War, he studied law under Thomas Jefferson's tutelage. Their relationship evolved into a lifetime friendship, which helped Monroe ascend the political ladder.

Those connections benefited him as his career progressed and he fulfilled his desire to build a stronger United States.

Monroe got into politics soon after he finished law school. He was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1782 and was appointed to Governor's Council. Monroe also served in the Congress of the Confederation from 1783–86.

Monroe made a name for himself in Congress by insisting on the United States' right to navigate the Mississippi River and attempting to enforce Congress's power to regulate commerce. He did not have much success in either endeavor, so he resigned and set up his own law practice in Fredericksburg, Virginia. His retirement from politics did not last long, as his fellow Virginians demanded his services, in and out of the state.

Monroe was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates in 1787. A year later he became a member of the Virginia convention that ratified the federal constitution. Then, he was appointed in 1790 to fill the Senate vacancy caused by the death of William Grayson. To add to his accomplishments, he received a nomination from President Washington on May 27, 1794, as ambassador to France. It may be that Washington simply wanted to get Monroe out of the country—during his term as senator, Monroe consistently opposed Washington's government.

Monroe returned to Virginia to serve as governor from 1799–1802. President Jefferson enlisted his aid in 1803 to help negotiate the Louisiana Purchase. Subsequently, Jefferson nominated him to the post of ambassador to England.

Monroe's tenure in England was a trying time for the young United States. The two countries were arguing over the British navy's policy of impressing (i.e., forcing to serve) American seamen to act as crewmen on its ships. Monroe tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a treaty to stop the practice.

Jefferson recalled Monroe in 1807. It was one of the few failures in Monroe's political career.

Finally, in 1816, he was elected to the first of his two terms as U.S. president.

Several major events took place on Monroe's watch. Among the most significant were the 1817–18 war with the Seminole Indians, the acquisition of Florida from Spain, and the Missouri Compromise.

The Missouri Compromise addressed the constitutional conflict over the existence of slavery in the United States. According to the terms, after 1820, states above the southern Missouri border would be slavefree. Those below could be slave states. In reality, the compromise just highlighted the sectional divisions in the country that future generations were left to resolve.

The best known legacy of Monroe's presidency is the Monroe Doctrine. It is still invoked today—even though the man it's named after has been dead for almost 200 years.

The Monroe Doctrine announced on December 2, 1823, was clear and concise. It warned European powers planning on interfering in the United States' sphere of influence in the Western Hemisphere to think twice before acting, lest they bear the full brunt of its political and military power—not that the United States possessed much of either at the time. Monroe's “doctrine,” as it came to be known years later, was a radical departure for a government that had attained its own independence only forty-seven years earlier. It marked the first time that the United States flexed its muscles regarding the Western Hemisphere, and signaled that the former British colonies had “grown up.” In effect, he was acknowledging that the political system in the Western Hemisphere was more like the United States' than Europe's. The imposition of the doctrine capped Monroe's significant political career—and was a major milestone for the Founding Fathers.

While Monroe was visiting his daughter Maria in New York City in 1831, he died—on Independence Day.

James Monroe may have left this earth financially dependent, but his service to the nation was priceless.