Presidential Signature: James Monroe
Our Friday special- that presidential post you all have been waiting for! On March 10, 1813, James Monroe was serving as Secretary of State under President James Madison. The US was in the middle of the War of 1812, and Monroe wrote this pass to allow a British agent free travel around Washington, DC, so he could negotiate the exchange of POWs. Eighteen months later, after the British burned both the White House and the Capitol, Madison would fire then Secretary of War John Armstrong, and appoint Monroe to the position. But, after his switch, a successor was not appointed as Secretary of State through February 1815 when the war ended; leaving Monroe to fill two cabinet positions. Before the Treaty of Ghent was signed and peace was official, Secretary of War Monroe had been planning an invasion of Canada- a fantasy many red-blooded Americans still hold today (not us, we love Canucks!). With the war over, Monroe returned to his position as Secretary of State, until he himself was elected president.