How could he not succeed?
Unlike many American presidents, Thomas Jefferson was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His father was a successful plantation owner in Virginia, and his mother belonged to the famous Randolph family, which dominated Virginia politics. With his father already active in politics, it came as no surprise that Jefferson followed in his footsteps.
Jefferson’s education began when he was only five years old. With private tutors schooling him, Jefferson studied Latin, Greek, history, the natural sciences, and philosophy. In addition, he learned how to dance and play the violin. His mother wanted him to have a well-rounded education and become a true gentleman.
At age 17, Jefferson attended the College of William and Mary. He then proceeded to enter a career in law. By 1767, Jefferson was a lawyer. Jefferson decided that the law didn’t provide him with sufficient income, so he moved back to his plantation to live off the land. Soon after, he entered politics and became a well-known and outspoken supporter of independence.
With all the protesting going on, Jefferson still had time to marry. He married Martha Wayles Skelton, a wealthy young widow, in 1772. The happy marriage didn’t last long. Martha died in 1782. The grief-stricken Jefferson put all of his efforts into politics in an attempt to get his mind off his beloved wife.
Jefferson’s early political career
In 1768, Jefferson was elected to the Virginia legislature. Aided by his education and writing ability, Jefferson became a powerful member of the legislature within a few years.
In 1769, Jefferson joined fellow legislator George Washington and others in condemning the Townshed Act (see Chapter 3) and embraced the cause of independence.
The British-appointed governor of Virginia shut down the legislature in response to their defiance. The legislators just moved their meeting place to a local tavern and continued their business.
After the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774 (see Chapter 3), Jefferson went to work. He wrote a lengthy document entitled “A Summary View of the Rights of British America,” in which he provided a philosophical attack on the British right to govern the American colonies.
Jefferson was chosen as a delegate to the first Continental Congress, but he never made it to Philadelphia; he became sick on the way. He did send his documents to the first Continental Congress, which made quite an impact. Thomas Jefferson became a household name in the Colonies, and his intellectual abilities became famous. Jefferson was now a well-known radical. His path toward becoming a founding father was set.
Writing the Declaration of Independence
In 1775, Jefferson became a member of the second Continental Congress. As a delegate in Congress, Jefferson became a member of the committee charged with drawing up a declaration of independence for the American colonies. John Adams, a fellow committee member, asked Jefferson to write the declaration for the committee. After Jefferson finished the task, he sat down with Adams and Benjamin Franklin and made final corrections to his draft. In July 1776, the revised declaration was presented to the full Congress. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress officially adopted the declaration. A new country was born.
What did and didn’t make it into the declaration
In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson outlined his thoughts on democracy and the rights of people. In the most famous section of the piece, Jefferson proclaims that all men are created equal and have certain rights that cannot be taken away by any government. These rights include the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Declaration of Independence became the foundation for the Constitution of the United States, as well as for many other democratic constitutions in Europe and around the world.
In the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson included a critique of slavery and called for the abolition of the institution — even though he owned slaves himself. His colleagues convinced him to drop the section, because they feared that the southern colonies would object to it and refuse to ratify the declaration. Grudgingly, Jefferson consented. As president, Jefferson later outlawed the importation of new slaves into the United States.
In 1776, Jefferson went back to Virginia to continue to serve in the legislature. During this time, he developed many of his political ideas — many of which he put into effect as president. He called for universal suffrage — the right of everybody to vote — and he advocated land reform and public education. Most importantly, he succeeded in passing a bill that established freedom of religion in the state of Virginia. Many of his ideas became part of the Bill of Rights (see Chapter 3) when it was added to the Constitution in 1791.
Failing as governor and succeeding as diplomat
Jefferson was elected governor of Virginia and started his term in 1779. He hated the job — because the Virginia constitution gave all powers to the legislature — and he was very unsuccessful at it. When the British attacked Richmond, the capital, Jefferson fled, taking no measures to defend the city. In 1781, he retired after declaring himself sick and tired of politics. He refused to serve a second term as governor, even after he was reelected.
In 1783, the Treaty of Paris ended the Revolutionary War. Jefferson had reentered politics following the death of his wife the year before, and he was serving in the Continental Congress. He became the ambassador to France when Benjamin Franklin retired from the post.
Jefferson, who was fluent in French and enjoyed a solid reputation in Europe, proved to be a natural diplomat. He enjoyed the good life in France and served as ambassador for the next four years. He was in France during the start of the French Revolution in 1789. He initially agreed with the basic principles behind the revolution, but later condemned the violence and slowly moved away from supporting the new, revolutionary government.
Serving under Washington and Adams
Upon his return from France in 1789, Jefferson was asked by the newly elected president, George Washington, to serve as his secretary of state. Jefferson accepted the position, but he soon started clashing with the secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton. (Their conflicts led to the country’s first new political parties, which I explain in the “The first party system” sidebar in Chapter 3.)
The first big clash occurred over the issue of a national bank. Hamilton wanted to create a national bank, while Jefferson believed that the states should control the banking structures. Jefferson lost the battle when Washington sided with Hamilton. Continuing conflicts with Hamilton and Washington prompted Jefferson to resign in 1793. He thought that he had retired to his estate near Richmond for good. Boy, was he wrong.
In 1796, Jefferson reluctantly accepted the Democratic-Republican nomination for the presidency. It was a position he didn’t want. He didn’t even campaign for office, instead staying home on his plantation. To his great surprise, he came in second, losing to Adams by only three Electoral College votes. Under the Electoral College laws in effect at the time, the person who came in second became vice president. Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican, became vice president to the Federalist president Adams — not a good foundation for political success.
Jefferson was one of the few founding fathers who didn’t attend the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. Even though Jefferson was in France at the time of the convention, James Madison kept him in the loop. When Jefferson received a copy of the proposed constitution, the lack of a bill of rights (see Chapter 3) ensuring personal freedom from government intrusion worried him. Jefferson wrote back to Madison, suggesting that a bill of rights be added. Madison agreed and used Jefferson’s blueprint to propose the addition. In 1791, the new Congress of the United States added the Bill of Rights — the first ten amendments to the Constitution.
For two years, Jefferson fought a losing battle with his own president. After objecting to a war with France and, especially, to the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts (see the sidebar, “The Alien and Sedition Acts,” earlier in this chapter), Jefferson left the capital in disgust a
nd returned home in 1798.
Jefferson started to oppose Adams and the Federalists openly from his plantation, called Monticello. He went so far as to draft the Kentucky Resolution, which opposed the federal government and the Alien and Sedition Acts.
President Thomas Jefferson (1801–1809)
With the 1800 election approaching, Jefferson decided to run again. This time he took the race seriously, believing that he had to save democracy from the Federalists. He defeated the incumbent Adams.
Jefferson and his running mate, Aaron Burr, received the same amount of Electoral College votes; so the selection of the president fell to the House of Representatives. It took 36 ballots in the House to decide the outcome of the election. The Federalist majority finally voted for Jefferson (after politically torturing him for a while), because they despised Aaron Burr even more.
Thomas Jefferson assumed the presidency in March 1801. One of his first tasks was to restore peace between the warring political parties. In his inaugural address, he proudly proclaimed, “we are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.” This declaration satisfied many Federalists. Jefferson worked well with the Federalists during his first term.
Jefferson then freed everybody who was in jail because of the Alien and Sedition Acts. He refused to renew the acts. The acts quietly expired the same year. (See the sidebar earlier in this chapter, titled “The Alien and Sedition Acts,” for more information.)
Attempting to be frugal and balance the budget, Jefferson cut the size of the federal bureaucracy, including the military, and abolished several taxes, including the tax on the distilling of liquor that had prompted the Whiskey Rebellion back in 1794 (see Chapter 3).
Marbury versus Madison
After Jefferson made peace with the Federalists in Congress, he attempted to reverse the packing of the federal courts. President Adams packed the courts with Federalist justices in the infamous “Midnight Appointments” before he left office. (However, not all of the appointments or commissions were sent out before Adams left office.)
Jefferson and Madison, his secretary of state, were furious at the appointments and refused to send out notifications to the rest of the appointees. William Marbury, one of the appointees whose commission was not delivered, sued, and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court.
Ironically, the new chief justice was John Marshall, who had failed to get the appointments out in the first place. Marshall faced a dilemma. If he sided with Jefferson and Madison, he would undermine the Federalist strength in the judiciary. If he sided with Marbury, Madison had already declared that he wouldn’t abide by the ruling. So Marshall did what was best for himself and the Supreme Court. He declared that the Congressional Act (Judiciary Act of 1789) on which Marbury based his lawsuit was unconstitutional. So, Marshall’s ruling established the principle of judicial review, allowing for the Supreme Court to declare laws of Congress unconstitutional, thus nullifying them.
Expanding the country: The Louisiana Purchase
Jefferson’s greatest accomplishment as president is undoubtedly the purchase of the Louisiana territory from France.
France acquired the Louisiana territory in 1682 and gave it to Spain in 1762. With France’s renewed power in the late eighteenth century, Jefferson expected the territory to be returned to France. Jefferson turned out to be correct: France reacquired the territory in 1802.
The weak Spanish empire constituted no threat to U.S. territorial interests, but the French empire was a different story. Jefferson sent his friend James Monroe, the former governor of Virginia and future president, to Paris to attempt to buy New Orleans from France.
The French shocked Monroe by offering to sell the whole Louisiana territory for a measly $15 million. Jefferson rejoiced and signed the treaty setting the terms for purchase. On December 20, 1803, the Senate approved the purchase, and the United States doubled in size overnight. Jefferson successfully added 828,000 square miles to the country. The territory included what would become parts of Wyoming and the following states:
Jefferson’s first term was a big hit with the U.S. public. It is widely considered to be one of the most successful terms of any president in U.S. history. Unfortunately, he couldn’t keep it up. After easily winning reelection in 1804, Jefferson had a tough time with the problems that started during his second term.
Facing the British again
By the turn of the century, the British navy, famous for mistreating sailors, faced mass desertions and a serious manpower shortage. The solution the British Navy came up with was to not only recapture their own deserters but to impress, or forcefully take, U.S. sailors to serve on British ships.
By the time Jefferson started his second term, British ships were stopping U.S. ships and taking U.S. citizens to serve in the British navy. Literally thousands of U.S. sailors were kidnapped to serve on British ships.
In 1807, a U.S. frigate, the Chesapeake, encountered a British war ship. When the crew of the Chesapeake refused to let the British search their ship, the British opened fire on it. This was the last straw for the U.S. Congress and President Jefferson.
Not wanting to fight a war with Britain, who controlled ocean trade, Jefferson instead pushed for the passage of the Embargo Act, which made all exports to Europe illegal. In addition, it prohibited U.S. ships from sailing to any foreign ports. The idea behind the Embargo Act was simple. If you can’t sail to foreign countries, nobody can kidnap your sailors. Of course, without trade you also cripple your economy, which is exactly what happened to the United States.
By 1809, the U.S. public had enough: National income fell by 50 percent in just two years. One of Jefferson’s last acts as president was to repeal the Embargo Act. He replaced it with the Non-Intercourse Act, which banned trade only with Britain and France — the French had also seized U.S. ships.
Keeping busy in retirement
By the 1808 elections, Jefferson had enough of politics. He also wanted to abide by the two-term limit established by Washington, so he chose not to run for reelection. At the age of 65, Jefferson intended to spend the rest of his life pursuing intellectual endeavors.
While enjoying his true loves, reading and studying, Jefferson still had time to found the University of Virginia. (He even designed the campus himself.) Jefferson insisted on the acceptance of all students, rich or poor. His dream of public education, at least at the university level, came true.
Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence and on the same day as his presidential predecessor, John Adams.
Jefferson gave exact instructions on what to put on his gravestone, indicating what he considered to be his major accomplishments in life. His grave stone reads, “Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom and Father of the University of Virginia.”
Chapter 5
Prominent but Ineffective: Madison, Monroe, and John Quincy Adams
In This Chapter
Becoming a founding father: Madison
Bringing peace with foreign policy: Monroe
Failing as president, but succeeding in Congress: Adams
T his chapter covers three prominent U.S. presidents. James Madison is widely considered to be one of the most important founding fathers. He gave the country the Bill of Rights and was a tenacious fighter for the Constitution. As president, however, he almost destroyed the country he helped to create by going to war against Great Britain in 1812.
James Monroe fought in the Revolutionary War side by side with George Washington. He succeeded in foreign policy as president by finally making peace with Great Britain and acquiring Florida from Spain.
John Quincy Adams was a superior diplomat and congressman. However, as president, he failed. He restored his reputation by serving in Congress one more time after his defeat in 1828.
James Madison: From Founding Father to Presidential Flop
; Next to Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, shown in Figure 5-1, was undoubtedly the brightest, best-educated president in the history of the United States. But, unlike his mentor Jefferson, Madison did not make a successful jump from philosophy to politics.
Madison presents a perplexing story. He was one of the least successful presidents in U.S. history, but without him, there would have been no United States. His great contributions to the country were made before he assumed office. As president, he almost destroyed the country he so loved.
Although Madison deserves the title “founding father,” he does not deserve to be listed among the greatest presidents in U.S. history.
Figure 5-1: James Madison, 4th president of the United States (1809–1817).
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Madison’s early career
After earning a degree from what is today Princeton University, Madison returned to his estate in Virginia. He was an ardent supporter of American independence from Great Britain and became a delegate to the Virginia constitutional convention in 1776. Here he met Thomas Jefferson. Madison worked closely with Jefferson on the new constitution for the state of Virginia. The two developed a close friendship, which lasted for 50 years.
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