The Election Of 1816: James Monroe vs. Rufus King
Intro: Hello and welcome back to another one of the presidential election articles for today I will be talking about the election of 1816, James Madison is looking to pass the torch to James Monroe, who himself has to deal with the Federalist Party's Rufus King...Let's get into it. Background Info The then incumbent president, James Madison was seeking re-election during a time when American was at war with the British in the War of 1812 and while Madison narrowly escaped with the win in that election, the war is still raging on. While some see the ending of the War of 1812 as a tie, there were some moments in that war that puts that idea into question most notably the burning of the White House in August of 1814, when British forces set the house ablaze which forced James Madison and many others to flee the Capitol but not before first lady, Dolly Madison somehow managed to get the famous portrait of George Washington out of the White before any serious damage could occur.