and indeed 50 years of independence president james monroe invited him to return to the united statesduring the 13-month tour along with his son appropriately named georges he visited all 24 states. the second session of the 18th congress speaker of the house henry visited -- invited lafayette to his house. lafayette addressed the house "i am faithful to the american principles of liberty, equality, and social order." even today, we appreciate our french heritage in south carolina. we are very grateful in my home community. we have the largest michelin tire manufacturing plant in the world. it's 2000 jobs. over and over again, good things happen with our association and beloved france. god bless america. thank you. >> ladies and honorable chris coons, u.s. senator from delaware. sen. coons: good afternoon. i too am a cochair of the french caucus honored when you briefly. it is easy to forget how young he was. but when he arrived in delaware marching north from south carolina he celebrated his 20th birthday in delaware. it was just off of today's i-95. of the not very majestic, but reg

he was a true hero of two worlds at the invitation of president james monroe.general lafayette returned to tour america in advance of the 50th anniversary of our independence. lafayette was a passionate defender of vulnerable people and ardent abolitionist and a devoted friend and ally to the united states of america. 200 years ago today, when introducing lafayette to the house chamber, speaker henry clay remarked the vain wish has sometimes indulged that providence would allow the patriot after death to return to his country and to contemplate the intermediate changes which had taken place to view the forests filled the cities, build mountains, leveled canals, cut the highways, constructed the progress of the arts, the advancement of learning and the increase in population throughout the tour that triumphantly brought lafayette back to america before his death. the general visited all 24 states that were part of the union at the time, addressing the 18th congress then composed. of 213 members of the house and 48 senators representing. 10 million americans. man

and in february of 1824, he finally a letter from jean president james monroe, who's inviting him to return for this celebration. the reason why james monroe reaches out at this point, because in 1826, america is going to be celebrating her 50th birthday. this like monumental celebration here, the country and people weren't really in a celebratory political parties, political division has existed since the birth of political parties, but since the war of 12, that political tension was escalating. and it really came to a crux. 1824 around the election of 1824, between john quincy adams and andrew jackson. this the first presidential election where candidate had had a hand in the founding documents or served in the revolution. so what was really going to decide the future of the country with this election and people have very strong opinions on either side? it's absolutely nothing we can relate to a 2020 form, right? yeah. so monroe looks for a lafayette to come here lafayette is the last surviving major major general of the american revolution and he's hoping that his arrival is going

the country was under the presidency of james monroe, who first was elected in 1816. in the aftermath of the war of 1812, monroe wanted to continue the sense of national unity, and he viewed political parties as the source of division within the country. it's really not until the war of 1812 that americans start really viewing themselves as americans rather than virginians, pennsylvanians and new yorkers. so he sees that there's this unity that's building. he wants to continue this and he wants to avoid political parties. now, if you ignore the division or an issue that's happening and you don't address it, it's going to continue to fester, which is what happens under monroe's administration. political resentment deeply grew under monroe's administration and as party factions grew, the federalist party collapsed. and the idea of who would lead the nation into its non founder future was starting to take shape. so in the hopes of stirring up some fervor and excitement, monroe looked all the way across the atlantic to a hero who was still very much alive. reaches out to

he wrote that, too, his protege and other anti-federal resists, james monroe, at the close of the first congress. so we're always out of sight of a port in american politics. we're always going forward, not quite knowing how it's going to work out except that the going is going to be kind of tough politically. and it's true the great machine of government that we've been bequeathed may seem crazy at times, maybe most times. it will never work perfectly but we canals make it better. and i think the former members, this wonderful organization i'm a great fan of, has an important role to play in the struggle to restore confidence in government through the many means that were discussed a little earlier this evening in that you've all committed yourselves to. and to re-educate but do much more than re-educate americans, including journalists who frankly seems to me too often -- i come out of journalism, by the way, originally, too often seem to lack a thorough education in civics or what the process of government actually is. but to re-educate the -- even the thinking american public about

james monroe came into the white house in 1817 as the first president to move in after being rebuilter being destroyed by the british he brings 53 pieces of this extraordinary french furniture heavily gilded, beautifully upholstered. by the time of abraham lincoln, not 50 years later, that 53 piece suite of furniture, one-piece left. mrs. kennedy understood the story and set about to return this sweet to the collection and, to this day, all these years later, we have reclaimed 13 of the original 53 pieces we know where three or four others are, they were legally dispersed so we cannot claim them. the others are lost to history. a tragedy now. every first lady takes on a project and mrs. obama wanted us to restore this suite, the gilding had worn off and was showing wear and tear. we undertook that project and that continues to this day in the joe biden presidency. we are not silo into a presidency. we work across presidencies and with every president. our role is the same no matter who the president may be >> royce is watching us in atlanta. welcome to our conversation. >> thank you

and furnishing the house james monroe and his wife were into french everything. they spoke french at home and lived in france. he wanted all the furniture to come from france and spent a lot of money bringing these things such as these clocks which fascinate me the most that stood on the mantles. these things are still in use. many of the things he acquired. you have that that all the presidents used since then. >> when you see our earliest things many are in the blue room. we have the wonderful chairs and sofa in the room. they were acquired by president monroe from france. he was criticized for buying french and not american. congress in 1826 passed a law saying furniture of the white house must be of american manufacturer. if practicable. this room is much more of a period room that the wallpaper is much more of the same period as the furniture as the portrait of president monroe versus the portrait of mrs. munro. it's really a place where the munro's would probably feel the most comfortable. if they were to walk in and say i understand this room. the furnitur

james monroe came into the white house in 1817 as the first president move in after being rebuilt from the fire set by the british. he had been our minister to france and so he brings 53 pieces of this extra ordinary french furniture, heavily gilded, beautifully upholstered. and by the time of abraham lincoln, not 50 years later of that 53 piece suite of furniture, suzanne, there was one piece left. mrs. kennedy knew this story. and so she set about to return this week to the collection and so to this day, all of these years later, we have been able to reclaim 13 of the original 53 pieces. now we know where three or four others are, but they were legally dispersed. so we can't go in and claim them. but the others were lost to history. it's just a tragedy now. every first ladies i mentioned takes on a project. so mrs. obama wanted us to restore this suite. the gilding had worn off. it was really beginning to show some wear and tear. and so we undertook that project and that continues to this day in the biden presidency. so we are not siloed into a presidency. we work across presidency a

james monroe and his wife were very into french everything. they spoke french home and they lived in france and. so he wanted all the furniture to come from france. he spent a lot of money bringing these things, such as these clocks, which fascinate me the most that have stood on those mantles since 1818 and ticked away. these things are still in use. many of them of the things he acquired are still in use. so you have that that all the presidents used since then when you seen our earliest things many of them are in blue room. so we have the wonderful gilt chairs and sofa that are in the room. they were acquired by president monroe from france. he was criticized for buying french things and not american. and in fact, congress in 1826 passed a law saying the furniture of the white house must be of american manufacture, comma, if practicable. this room is much more of a period room in that sense that the wallpaper is much more of the same period as the furniture. as the portrait of president monroe by samuel morse as the portrait of mrs. monroe