James Monroe was the fifth president and the fourth Virginian to hold the office. Five of the first ten presidents were Virginians if you go by their political affiliation. More than that if you consider where presidents were born. The last Virginian to be president before the Civil War was John Tyler and his term ended in 1845.

The secession crisis began 72 years after constitution was ratified. Thomas Jefferson had been dead just 34 years, James Madison 24 years, and James Monroe 29 years. John Tyler was still alive.

Like it or not, Virginians knew something about law, governance, and constitutions. It was not a fluke that they made a disproportionate contribution to the county in the first five decades. Everyone knows Washington’s contribution. He was highly esteemed North and South. Washington, a Virginian, implemented the Constitution. In his eight years he laid the foundation for how the country would work. Where did he get those values that gave the country the foundation that all subsequent presidents rely on?

Jefferson enlarged the country with the Louisiana Purchase, flexed US muscle in dealing with the Barbary Pirates and on his headstone:

Here was buried

Thomas Jefferson

Author of the Declaration of American Independence

of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom

& Father of the University of Virginia

Where did he get his notion of priorities and what constitutes real accomplishments to be proud of?

James Madison shepherded the country through the crisis that was the War of 1812 as president. With Alexander Hamilton he made a significant contribution in getting the Constitution ratified, working harder over a period of months than we can hardly imagine today. Where did he obtain the knowledge, wisdom, and work ethic to produce his portion of the Federalist Papers?

Virginia was not like South Carolina, Georgia, or Mississippi. There was no rush to secede. Virginia was herself. Thoughtful and deliberative, steeped in colonial and American history. If Lincoln was as smart and respectful of the country as many claim, he must have been stunned when Virginia said no to troops and a month later seceded. He wasn't. The day after Virginia seceded, Lincoln ordered troops to take Alexandria.