---
product_id: 7097376
title: "The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness"
brand: "harlow giles unger"
price: "Bs.455"
currency: BOB
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.bo/products/7097376-the-last-founding-father-james-monroe-and-a-nations-call
store_origin: BO
region: Bolivia
---

# The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness

**Brand:** harlow giles unger
**Price:** Bs.455
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** The Last Founding Father: James Monroe and a Nation's Call to Greatness by harlow giles unger
- **How much does it cost?** Bs.455 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.bo](https://www.desertcart.bo/products/7097376-the-last-founding-father-james-monroe-and-a-nations-call)

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- harlow giles unger enthusiasts

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## Description

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Interesting Book
  

*by M***B on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 2, 2023*

Interesting book, which paints James Monroe as one of the most important of the first 5 presidents.

### ⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Overboard With Praise For Monroe
  

*by J***E on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 11, 2016*

Harlow Giles Unger’s James Monroe biography, THE LAST FOUNDING FATHER: JAMES MONROE AND A NATION’S CALL TO GREATNESS, reads less like a biology and more like a sacred tomb for acolytes to use in worshipping the do-no-wrong object of their devotion.The parts where Unger is simply relaying the events that happened are well done and quite readable, but all too often, he offers opinions designed to glorify Monroe and his wife beyond all reason.By Unger’s description, Monroe was preceded by three presidents in John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who “were mere caretaker presidents who left the nation bankrupt, its people deeply divided, its borders under attack (and) its its capital city in ashes.” Even worse, the 35 years after Monroe’s presidency were led by presidents who were “self-serving, politically ambitions successors” who undermined the national unity he created and led the country into Civil War.Unger describes Jefferson’s choosing of Madison as his secretary of state over Monroe as Monroe “stepping aside,” rather than being overlooked in favor of Madison, a close and well-respected friend of Jefferson in his own right. Perhaps not coincidentally, Unger reserves much of his vitriol for Madison, claiming that when Monroe served in Madison’s cabinet, it was Monroe who took the reins of the country, especially in the wake of the British attack on Washington. Later, he doesn’t appear to recognize the irony of his response when he brings up accusations that John Quincy Adams had actually crafted the Monroe doctrine:  The assertion that Adams authored the Monroe Doctrine is not only untrue, it borders on the ludicrous by implying that President Monroe was little more than a puppet manipulated by another’s hand. Such assertions show little insight into the presidency itself and the type of man who aspires to and assumes that office; indeed, they denigrate the character, the intellect, the intensity, and the sense of power that drive American presidents.Each time Unger mentions Madison, he makes certain to belittle the fourth president, referring to him as “incompetent,” and making frequent references to Madison’s well-documented health problems and his short stature. When comparing the foreign policy experience of the two presidents, he says:  Monroe’s many years as a minister overseas had taught him diplomacy as a chesslike game of subtle moves, each fraught with nuanced, ripple effects that can accrue to the advantage or disadvantage of either side. Madison’s years in a nation of unsophisticated frontiersmen had taught him diplomacy as a game akin to the new card craze of Slap Jack.At another point:  … the president [Madison] seemed impotent, with no command of his armed forces, no credit with Congress, and little influence over the American people. His sickly Lilliputian stature did little to inspire confidence. Everything he said or did only alienated more Americans.When Monroe makes his seventh annual address to Congress, Unger says that some members trembled with awe as they watch him make his way down the aisle, a description that again feels over the top; I would have loved to see a source there so it seemed less a product of Unger’s overactive, awestruck imagination.If possible, Unger seems to go even further overboard in defense of Monroe’s wife, Elizabeth:  Washington gossips accused the Monroes – especially Elizabeth – of transforming the White House into a European court. Through no fault of her own, she became the target of mean-spirited attacks, born largely of envy – of her beauty, of her exquisite (and expensive) taste in clothes and furnishings, and of her refined manners and superb education.What Unger wants you to understand is that not only was Monroe the awesomest president who ever presidented, but he also had the hottest and most perfect wife ever. People who disliked her didn’t have any genuine motivation for their feels — they were simply jealous!Now, I don’t point all this out to demean Monroe or his wife — I bought this book specifically to learn more about him and his strengths as an American president, and Unger’s comparisons of Monroe to George Washington were indeed eye-opening. But over the course of the book, Unger’s descriptions of Monroe got in the way of the story of Monroe’s life, and made it difficult for me to trust Unger’s accounting of the events in Monroe’s life.According to this book, everything great that happened, from the Louisiana Purchase to the conclusion of the War of 1812, was a product of Monroe’s greatness despite the perpetual idiocy that surrounded him.A more nuanced view of Monroe’s life would have been far more satisfying. I have no doubt of his accomplishments or his strengths, but to really understand this president, I also would have liked to learn about his weaknesses and regrets. Unfortunately, this isn’t the book for that type of insight.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Monroe at the "High Bar"
  

*by V***K on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 23, 2012*

Mr. Unger sets the bar high for his subject when on the Acknowledgments and Dedication page he describes; "...James Monroe as the most significant Founding Father after George Washington".He goes on to produce a very thorough ~400-page biography of our fifth President - full of things we may have known, but now detailed and well retold, as well as many things we (the average reader) did not know about the man, his remarkable career and his family. The author's observation (page 2) that, "Washington's three successors - John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison - were mere caretaker presidents who left the nation bankrupt, its people deeply divided, its borders under attack, its capital city in ashes" - rouses the reader's interest, establishes the tone and encourages the read to come.What does come - despite the rhetoric - is delivered in a very even-handed and professional manner. I did not find the unfairness or bias detected by other reviewers here. The style and conclusions at times can be zealous, but certainly not unsupported, or implausible. By example, Mr. Unger offers a full spectrum of possibilities in his explanation for the rift between Monroe and his colleagues Madison and Jefferson (page 199) through the presentation of a number of historian's conclusions. In the end Mr. Unger suggests human foibles and pride as the cause for the breakup.Despite the author's high-admiration for his subject - the reader is often left wondering whether or not pure happenstance is as much a factor as heroics in many of the enormous events of the era. Was the Louisiana Purchase the legitimate "catch" of Mr. Monroe, or Mr. Livingston... or would Napoleon Bonapart have virtually "handed" the prize to any American envoy that President Jefferson might have sent? Mr. Unger suggests Mr. Monroe - but does not convince. Other matters of character or judgement are left quietly unexplored. For example, the damning Reynolds Dossier - a packet of proofs that ultimately destroy Alexander Hamilton are left for safekeeping with Mr. Jefferson, by Mr. Monroe. The dossier is subsequently shown to the press. Mr. Unger clearly believes Monroe above duplicity, but leaves the issue unexplored, except of course for the obvious deception of Mr. Jefferson. Could Mr. Monroe really have been "above" politics even at that most partisan of times?In the end, a number of events akin to the examples above make the reader feel that the author has set the bar too high for his subject, but no-matter Mr. Unger's research and skill with the written word make the book a very worthwhile and enlightening read.-----kindle edition-----Generally well done with the expected hyperlinks. There are numerous portraits and maps that are worthwhile to the read. The maps especially are somewhat tortured by the resolution of the kindle. The book does have hardbound page number locations which are displayed (page bottom) from the menu & toolbars display (tap page top). The index - which can be a very valuable tool in a biography - is worthless. It contains neither page number nor hyperlink - merely a shell of what should have been, despite the full price extracted for an e-book by the publisher, Da Capo Press. e-Book publication quality, ★★☆☆☆.

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*Product available on Desertcart Bolivia*
*Store origin: BO*
*Last updated: 2026-01-23*