Elizabeth Monroe - Ambassador's Wife

Ambassador's Wife

In 1794, James was appointed United States Minister to France by President George Washington. In Paris, as wife of the American Minister during the Reign of Terror, she helped secure the release of Madame La Fayette, wife of the Marquis de Lafayette when she learned of her imprisonment and threatened death by guillotine. The Monroes also provided support and shelter to the American citizen Thomas Paine in Paris, after he was arrested for his opposition to the execution of Louis XVI. While in France, the Monroes' daughter Eliza became friends with Hortense de Beauharnais, step-daughter of Napoleon, and both girls received their education in the school of Madame Jeanne Campan, who had been an advisor on court etiquette to Marie Antoinette. This association led to a friendship between the family of Napoleon Bonaparte and the Monroes.

James was recalled from his Ambassadorship in 1796, due to his support of France in the opposition of the Jay Treaty. The Monroes returned to Virginia where he became Governor. A son, James Monroe, Jr., was born in 1799 but died in 1801.

In 1803, President Jefferson appointed James to be United States Minister to Great Britain, and also the United States Minister to Spain. The Monroes' third child, a daughter whom they named Maria, was born in 1803, probably in England. In 1804, James was sent as a special envoy to France to negotiate the purchase of Louisiana, in addition to remaining the Ambassador to both Great Britain and Spain. In December 1804, he and Elizabeth were invited by Napoleon to attend his coronation in Paris, and were part of the official American delegation. The Monroes returned to Virginia in 1807.