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ALS as president, one page, 7.75 x 9.75, March 10, 1821. Addressed from Washington, a handwritten letter to his friend John Watson of Milton, Virginia, in full: “I dropped you a few lines by last mail to state that I should write you more fully by this, but in truth, I am still too much occupied with public concerns of great interest to spare the time for my private concerns. I will answer your draft for two hundred & fifty doll’s at 25 or 30 days from the time you receive this, and the balance we will settle when I come over, which will be as soon as in my power. I shall write you on my affairs, & enclose a letter to Mr. [Morrison], in my next, which I think will be by next mail. I wish to say something to you on that subject & to get you to ride up & inform me of their state.” Monroe adds a postscript along the left margin related to his financial dealings, and adds his franking signature, “James Monroe,” to the handwritten address panel on the reverse of the second integral page. In very good to fine condition, with light dampstaining touching the signature, and a repaired tear to the lightly soiled integral franking panel.
Written just five days after Monroe's second inauguration on March 5, 1821, the letter dates to a moment of political uncertainty in Washington. Although the Missouri Compromise had been enacted the previous year, Missouri's admission to the Union remained unresolved after objections to provisions in its proposed constitution prompted renewed debate in Congress. As political leaders worked toward a settlement that would ultimately be achieved through Henry Clay's Second Missouri Compromise later that month, Monroe acknowledged that he was "too much occupied with public concerns of great interest" to attend fully to his private affairs.
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