The doesn’t seem to be too much of an interest in discussing the presidents one at a time, especially going by the results of the Adams thread. I’ll keep doing it though as long as someone cares. I imagine there will be more interest in the big ones like Lincoln or the controversial ones like Nixon or Bush 2, but if we can’t discuss the likes Zachary Taylor or Chester Arthur as well…then it hardly seems worth doing one a week in order.
As far now though, we carry on. I’ll be back later to throw in my views on our third president, bur let’s kick it off for now.
He was the one who had all those White House dinner parties, right? Guys were making what we now call toasts and at that time were called “healths,” and they got drunker and sillier with each one, until one guy laughed so hard his chair tipped over backwards and he fell out the window. Which fortunately was open at the time. But after that, Jefferson made the rule “No healths!”
Well that’s all the inspiration I needed to press on. I may not know much in this world, but I’ll be darned if I can’t offer some insight into obscure American Presidents:)
Thomas Jefferson, smart guy, Louisiana Purchase, Lewis & Clark, that whole deal, and did quite a bit to de-aristocratize the presidency, which I think was important at the time.
But there was that whole Sally Hemmings thing. Ewww. She may not have been entirely unwilling, but it’s still bad medicine messing with someone who can’t say no.
Plus Jefferson was a total jag when it came to women’s rights. He thought women’s place was serving and soothing men and didn’t care for intellectual women except for Abigail Adams. He actually wrote his daughter Patsy to practice her music so that “he would love her better.” Gee, thanks Dad.
Thomas Jefferson really was a good and well-meaning President and leader. However he lacked somewhat the ability to give strong orders, however that is pretty natural as he was at heart a Libertarian. Thomas Jefferson still however lacked that hard, Caesarian nerve that many other President possessed (ie George Washington, John Adams, Zachary Taylor, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, George W Bush to name a few).
6/10
Accomplishments and Crisis Management:
The Louisiana Purchase was Thomas Jefferson’s single greatest achievement and deserves to be treated as such. However other then the Louisiana Purchase and rescinding of the Alien and Sedition Acts he did very little good as President. Most notably he reduced the army and navy even as he antagonized Britain. His Embargo and Non-Intercourse acts devestated trade and led to the War of 1812.
7/10
Political Skill:
Jefferson’s political skill was good and he managed to keep the popularity of the Democratic-Republicans. He won the election of 1804 by a very wide margin. He also tried to keep as friendly as possible with the Federalists. He was able as a politican and had very little fault although despite his efforts the Federalists were antagonized by him and became virtual enemies.
7/10
Character and Integrity:
Thomas Jefferson’s character and integrity were extremely moral and without scandal. The Sally Hemmings affair is a mere myth in my opinion conceived by his enemies. However with that said Jefferson contradicted himself when he called for the freedom and equality of human beings yet owned slaves.
8/10
Foreign Policy:
Thomas Jefferson’s foreign policy was excellent in some areas and terrible in others. He managed to double the size of the United States in the Louisiana Purchase and ensued the US would become a continental power. Jefferson also destroyed the Barbary Coast pirate states and managed to save the US from the humiliation of continually paying tribute to them. However he also antagonized Britain setting the stage for the War of 1812 with the Embargo and Non-Intercourse acts.
8/10
Domestic Policy:
Jefferson’s domestic policy was quite good banning the slave trade, and ending patronage and the spoils system for civil service. America thrived under Jefferson except for the lack of a strong national army.
Most of Jefferson’s enemies are now dead. From what I gather, genetic tests show he may well have had children with Sally Hemings, although it’s not impossible their ancestor was his brother.
The critiques of Jefferson for holding slaves are indisputable, but overall I think he was perhaps the greatest thinker and most brillant person ever to become president of the U.S., if not necessarily the greatest thinker and most brilliant president.
Jefferson embodies a pattern we’ll encounter often–a stellar first term followed by a clunker of a second term.
In his first term, Jefferson pardoned the victims of the infamous Sedition Act, repealed the Federalist excise and property taxes (land sales and tariffs were sufficient to fund the government), reduced government spending, and not only negotiated the Louisiana Purchase but organized the well-planned and well-managed Lewis and Clark expedition to explore it. The Lewis and Clark expedition also helped to establish the American claim to the Oregon Country between the Rockies and the Pacific.
In his second term, Jefferson promoted and signed the Embargo Acts–possibly the most jaw-droppingly stupid series of legislation in the 233-year history of the United States. In an act which combined craven appeasement with economic illogic, the United States imposed trade sanctions upon itself. This absolutely devastated the economy of New England, eviscerated federal revenue (remember what I said about tariffs funding the government?), and emboldened Great Britain to treat us as brain-dead patsies in the run-up to the War of 1812.
On the plus side, Jefferson did sign the bill for the prohibition of slave imports, which at least got the US off of the receiving end of the horrific Middle Passage.
However, the Embargo Acts alone drop Jefferson from a possible 10 out of 10 to a mere 7.
I think Jefferson is over-rated. He always struck me as an ivory tower intellectual - he often failed to live up to the principles he espoused. Which I guess worked out for him in the long term - his lofty principles have endured while his mundane actions have been forgotten.
On the plus side of the ledger for “Jefferson, T.”: writing the Declaration (pre-Presidency, of course), making the Louisiana Purchase, sending out Lewis and Clark; sending the Navy to take on the Barbary Pirates.
On the negative side: being a hypocrite on slavery and Federal power (the Purchase was directly contrary to his own philosophy of limited government; the Constitution didn’t authorize it, after all); backstabbing Adams and even Washington (including funding an opposition newspaper while he was still in the Cabinet!); the bizarrely counterproductive Embargo and Non-Intercourse Acts; getting so deeply into debt with his endless redesign and rebuilding of Monticello that his slaves had to be sold when he died, even breaking up slave families; failing to recognize the infant republic’s need for a strong navy (read Theodore Roosevelt in The Naval History of the War of 1812 on Jefferson’s failures in this regard - T.R. was scathing!); making excuses for the murderousness of the French revolutionary regime, and sharing confidential diplomatic papers with the French ambassador to the U.S.
A vastly overrated President, but a pretty good Founding Father, IMHO.
I agree with the “Ivory Tower Intellectual” label. One of the most contradictory things I’ve read about him is that he kept very detailed diaries of the exact state of the weather, crops, etc. Yet he apparently couldn’t do the equivalent of balancing a checkbook. He spent vast sums on luxuries for himself while continuing to borrow. When he died he was essentially beyond penniless. His creditors had foregone pressing for payment while he was alive out of respect for him, but he was broke and deeply in debt. His slaves – except for the Hemingses – were all sold, and his family was left without a cent.
Not to mention that he had already been bailed out at least once before, with the sale of his library. He was a brilliant man, but he seems to have had no idea of actually living by his own stated beliefs.
Not only was he funding an opposition newspaper while in the cabinet, he seems to have been doing it partly with government money, in that the man he hired to run the paper was given a position in Jefferson’s office, with his only real duties being to run the paper. And the only reason for the paper was to spread rumors and lies about John Adams.
An aristocrat, but a brilliant man all the same. Writing the Declaration was no mean feat, and the document has stood the test of time. Jefferson’s vision for American expansion was unequaled, and his decision to send Lewis and Clark to explore the Missouri and the Columbia, befriending Indian tribes along the way was inspired and nothing short of prescient. It established American claim to the Pacific Northwest and northern midwest, rebuffing both Britain’s and France’s efforts to lay claim to that area. His purchase of the Louisiana Territory was opportunism at its finest: France was reeling finacially and Napolean needed money to finance his war. It was a steal.