The Jefferson You Never Knew

Jon Meacham’s excellent best seller on Thomas Jefferson, The Art of Power, is great reading for you aficionados, like me, of non-fiction historical novels. I must say, Meacham, in spite of his political liberal bias (he is a regular on MSNBC and NBC), does not let that get in the way or taint his historical perspective. His previous 2008 book on Andrew Jackson, American Lion was equally spellbinding.

In this book you will learn more about Jefferson then his well known role in the American Revolution and authorship of the Declaration of Independence which he wrote in his twenties. You will learn about his personal life, his tenure in the Virginia statehouse, his term as Governor of Virginia, his years in Paris as our French Ambassador for President Washington, his feuds with John Adams and Alexander Hamilton, and his two terms as our 3^rd President from 1800-1808. It also reflects on the years after his realm of power at this beloved Monticello home, his lasting influence on his successors, James Madison and James Monroe, and where he died at the age of 84 on the 4^th of July 1826, on the very same day that his reconciled 90-year old writing companion, John Adams, passed away.

It was unknown to me that the two things that he considered most troublesome to our unity as a country during his presidency, was the subject of slavery and the strong desire of the opposing party, the Federalists, to establish a monarchist government similar to what existed in Great Britain, even after our independence was declared and our Constitution established. The movement was led by the strong northern states, which were anti-slavery and kept a cloud of succession over Jefferson’s head many years before our Civil War in 1860.

The conundrum for Jefferson was the slavery question, which he pondered most of his life. He conceded it was immoral, but concluded that it could only be solved by “expatriation” not “amalgamation”, the mixing of races. Even though he fathered at least seven children with his black slave, Sally Hemings, after he became a widower at a relatively young age. He never remarried, after his wife, Patsy, died after mothering 6 children and was pregnant most of her married life with Jefferson. All of Jefferson’s children with Patsy died before adulthood, except for Polly who survived him and gave him several grandchildren. All of his slaves were freed in his will and Polly freed Sally Hemings several years later. Most of Sally’s children went on to successful lives. Their children passed for white and most people never knew that Jefferson was their father. With all his power and intellect he never faced up to the slavery question, but said that it would have to be solved by future generations. If he had, maybe we would not have had a civil war.

Jefferson was the most intellectual of our Presidents and widely knowledgeable about history, music, books, wine, foods, the arts, science, and the environment. He was very tall for his day, well built, athletic, handsome, and appealing to both men and women with his gracious manners and quiet demeanor. He was not a great public speaker, but obviously a superb writer and conceptual thinker. He presided over the Louisiana Purchase from the French and the Lewis & Clark expedition which established our ultimate Pacific border. He really was the Father of the Republicanism and after you read this book you will have an even greater respect for him and his critical role in our history.