Technically, the Monroe Doctrine is part of the "seventh annual message to Congress," its official title. The name Monroe Doctrine is much snappier, and refers only to the part that addresses the president's new, bold foreign policy stance. Keeping his name as part of the title ensures that the legacy of that stance is credited properly to Monroe, and forever ties his presidency to these ideas. The term "doctrine" was added decades later, and shows us how strongly later administrations wanted to adhere to this position.

A doctrine isn't something you follow because it's convenient, or because you can't think of anything better to do. A doctrine is a mantra, a manifesto, or a strict set of principles. Calling these paragraphs a doctrine elevates them, from just some paragraphs in an address to Congress, to a set of ideas that had to be followed from then on.

Calling this text the Monroe Doctrine tells us that this text is an apparently necessary set of principles, dictated by one Mr. Prez Monroe. The now-official title of this section of a speech turns them from an excerpt to a declaration.