James Monroe Quotes
The commander ought to lead every important movement.
Monroe was then Secretary of State and Jefferson an ex-President.
James Monroe, 1758-1831, 5th President of the United States (Democratic Republican, VA), Criticizing the then Commanding General Henry Dearborn, Letter to Thomas Jefferson, June 7, {18113}
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A boatload of 23 Jews had arrived in New Amsterdam in 1654 from a failed colony in Brazil. Governor Peter Stuyvesant, an anti-Semite, wanted to deport them and asked for permission from his superiors at the Dutch West India Company. The Directors of the company wanted good citizens in their colony, and the Jews had been very productive citizens in Amsterdam. The Governor was distressed and took this as a rebuke which it was. Stuyvesant was not a very good governor eaith from the point of view of the colomists or the company.
George Washington had been appointed by the Continental Congress as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army but was politic about keeping Congress informed and not appear to be usurping authority. He asked Adams for an opinion of whether his authority reached beyond Boston to include the defense of New York City. Adams had been a member of the Congress that appointed Washington. Adams reply has been used as precedent for the broad authority of the President as Commander in Chief by those claiming broad Presidential power since.
The President told McNamara that if the administration does not send the troops the Generals want, they will be blamed for any military failures that occur. If they do send all the troops that the Joint Chiefs wanted, they would be going far beyond the limits that the Defense Secretary recommended and the President would have preferred. JBJ felt he really had no political choice. He authorized the wanted troops further escalating the war. See his special assistant’s question about that decision in {617151}.
He was objecting to the current crop of senior military officer who have little experience in fighting and much in academic, strategic and technical training. Many however see him as a dinosaur who does not realized the complex nature of the modern military missions. In general, we have won almost all of our fighting battles but often failed in our maintaining civil society, occupation, nation building, military procurement, preventing sexual assault of our own troops by our own soldiers, assuring mental health of our soldiers. Hackworth, detractors argue, wants to change what already works and ignore what does not.
On military or foreign policy matters his view was that presidents ought not to rule anything in or out so that he/she can keep all the options open and not reduce future flexibility.
Written when he was forced to share command with General Francois Kellerman.
Ironically, Lieberman was using this quotation to campaign against Bush’s son, George W. Bush.
Rumsfeld wanted Defense Department people running and controlling the civilian government of Iraq after our invasion. General Garner, who was the American appointee to run the civilian government until the Iraqis could have elections wanted State Department, Justice Department and other non military personnel run Iraq.
- Born: April 28, 1758
- Died: July 4, 1831
- Nationality: American
- Profession: President
James Monroe was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was the last president of the Virginia dynasty; his presidency coincided with the Era of Good Feelings. He is perhaps best known for issuing the Monroe Doctrine, a policy of opposing European colonialism in the Americas. He also served as the governor of Virginia, a member of the United States Senate, the U.S. ambassador to France and Britain, the seventh Secretary of State, and the eighth Secretary of War.
