This is the official 2023 birthday commemoration in honor of President James Monroe, coordinated by the Department of the Army in accordance with White House protocol rules, in coordination with the James Monroe Memorial Foundation.
President Monroe was the only President other than George Washington to have actively served in the regular army during the Revolutionary War, participating in six major battles (as well as wintering at Valley Forge, crossing the Delaware with George Washington, being seriously wounded at Trenton and cited for conspicuous bravery), who subsequently served simultaneously as Secretary of War and Secretary of State (during the War of 1812, when he helped coordinate American defenses against the British). He was also an active participant in the first American lineage society, the Society of the Cincinnati.