James Monroe Law Office and other artifacts belonging to the Monroes, although most date to the 19th century. The outside includes a memorial garden to James Monroe, which features a bust of him sculpted by Margaret French Cresson, daughter of Daniel Chester French. This building housed the law office of the future United States President James Monroe from 1786 to 1789. Monroe had prior to this time served in the Virginia House of Delegates, and in the Congress of the Confederation, from which he resigned in 1786, dissatisfied with the politics of that body. In 1788 he was involved in the delegate to the
Presidency of James Monroe Monroe appointed a geographically-balanced cabinet, through which he led the executive branch. At Monroe's request, Crawford continued to serve as Treasury Secretary. Monroe also chose to retain Benjamin Crowninshield of Massachusetts as Secretary of the Navy and Richard Rush of Pennsylvania as Attorney General. Recognizing Northern discontent at the continuation of the Virginia dynasty, Monroe chose John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts to fill the prestigious post of Secretary of State, making Adams the early favorite to eventually succeed Monroe as president. An experienced diplomat, Adams had abandoned the Federalist Party in 1807 in support of Thomas Jefferson's foreign policy, and