0 he was again elected to the general assembly of Virginia, and in
1811 once more Governor of the State.

In the same year he was appointed Secretary of State by President
Madison, and after the capture of the capitol in 1814, he was appointed
to take charge of the war department, being both Secretary of State and
Secretary of War at once. He found the treasury exhausted and the
national credit at the lowest ebb, but he set about the task of infusing
order and efficiency into the departments under his charge, and proposed
an increase of 40,000 men in the army by levying recruits throughout the
whole country.

His attention was also directed to the defence of New Orleans, and
finding the public credit completely prostrated, he pledged his private
means as subsidary to the credit of the Government, and enabled the city
to successfully oppose the forces of the enemy. He was the confidential
adviser of President Madison in the measures for the re-establishment of
the public credit of the country and the regulation of the foreign
relations of the United States, and continued to serve as Secretary of
State until the close of Madison's term in 1817.

In that year he succeeded to the Presidency himself, by an electoral
vote of 183 out of 217, as the candidate of the party now generally
known as Democratic.

His Cabinet was composed of some of the ablest men in the country in
either party. Soon after his inauguration President Monroe made a tour
through the Eastern and Middle States, during which he thoroughly
inspected arsenals, naval depots, fortifications and garrisons; reviewed
military companies, corrected public abuses, and studied the
capabilities of the country with reference to future hostilities.

On this tour he wore the undress uniform of a continental officer. In
every point of view this journey was a success. Party lines seemed about
to disappear and the country to return to its long past state of union.
The President was not backward in his assurances of a strong desire on
his part that such should be the case. The course of the administration
was in conformity to these assurances, and secured the support of an
overwhelming majority of the people.

The great majority of the recommendations in the President's message
were approved by large majorities. The tone of debate was far more
moderate; few of the bitter speeches which had been the fashion in the
past were uttered, and this period has passed into histor