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Elizabeth Kortright Monroe
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Birthdate
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06/30/1768
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Death date
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09/23/1830
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President
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James Monroe
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Dates of service
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03/04/1817-03/04/1825
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Relationship to president
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Spouse
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Other marriages
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N/A
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Websites
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First Ladies National Library Biography of Elizabeth Monroe
White House Historical Association: Elizabeth Monroe
The White House: Elizabeth Kortright Monroe
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Papers/letters collections
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Surviving letters to or from Elizabeth Kortright Monroe
Note from Elizabeth Kortright Monroe to Richard Smith 1815
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Historical sites
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James Monroe Highland
Elizabeth Kortright Monroe Gravesite
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Fascinating details
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- She accompanied James Monroe to Paris where she gained a popularity that allowed her to save the life of the imprisoned Marie-Adrienne Lafayette, the wife of a French revolutionary leader and assistant to the U.S. during the American Revolution, Marquis de Lafayette, on January 22, 1795. James Monroe was minister to France from 1794-1796 but remained in France a few months after he was recalled due to slow communication.
- She is known for restoring a formal hosting style in the White House and drawing from her European experience in doing so.
- Elizabeth made it a point to dramatically reduce the social obligations of the first lady in drastic contrast to the efforts of her predecessor, Dolley Madison, and to the dismay of many in Washington.
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