Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. I.djvu/252

206 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS Madison. With the traditions of those days, which regarded experience in political affairs a qualifica tion for an exalted station, it was most natural that Monroe should become a candidate for the presi dency. Eight years previously his fitness for the office had been often discussed. Now, in 1816, at ~ the age of fifty-nine years, almost exactly the age jj- at which Jefferson and Madison attained the same position, he was elected president of the United States, receiving 183 votes in the electoral college against 34 that were given for Rufus King, the candidate of the Federalists. He continued in this office until 1825. His second election in 1821 was made with almost complete unanimity, but one electoral vote being given against him. Daniel T. Tompkins was vice-president during both presiden tial terms. John Quincy Adams, John C. Calhoun, William H. Crawford, and William Wirt were members of the cabinet during his entire adminis tration. The principal subjects that engaged the attention of the president were the defences of the Atlantic seaboard, the promotion of internal im provements, the conduct of the Seminole war, the acquisition of Florida, the Missouri compromise, and the resistance to foreign interference in Ameri can affairs, formulated in a declaration that is called the "Monroe doctrine." Two social events marked the beginning and the end of his administration: first, his ceremonious