Dez Prez Rankings: Contradictions

#4 of 39:
Thomas Jefferson (3rd president)
1801-09
Democratic-Republican


“I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House - with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.” – John F. Kennedy to a gathering of Nobel laureates

Scientist, politician, architect, farmer, slaveowner, philosopher, Founding Father and author of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson was the purest American example, along with Ben Franklin, of the Renaissance Man. Jefferson was a fascinating study in contrasts. He firmly believed in a nation of citizen-farmers and a small federal government that would stay out of the business of the people (an early hero of conservativism), yet he ended up exercising as much executive power as any president that we have ever had (more in line with liberal leaders). He tried to bring order to the young country with a firm hand, yet he also once famously said that “every generation needs a revolution” and was a supporter of the bloody French Revolution longer than most. He signed legislation ending the importation of slaves, yet was also a slaveowner. Even further, he openly acknowledged his contradictions, because above all else, he was a pragmatist.

I already wrote about the crucial Election of 1800, which was the first election where an opposition party won the office of president. John Adams performed a great service for this country by not resisting the transition of power, and Thomas Jefferson was the other side of that transaction. He was as crucial in that power transition as Adams. Instead of seeking retribution on his political enemies, he declared in his inaugural address that we are “all Democrats, we are all Federalists.” Mortal enemies Adams and Jefferson must be honored for setting the precedent of peaceful transition of power, far from a given in the world of 1800. (Adams and Jefferson would later mend their differences in old age through an extraordinary exchange of letters, and both died on July 4, 1826, with Adams desperately trying to hold on in order to outlive rival Jefferson, even if only by hours).


ABOVE: Jefferson saw himself as a man of the people, and quickly dispensed with the more formal traditions that had been established by Washington and Adams before him. He had frequent dinner parties at the White House, but allowed seating to be first come, first serve, regardless of rank. He would often greet diplomatic visitors to the White House wearing slippers and his pj’s

The defining moment of Jefferson’s administration was the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the United States and was, frankly, unconstitutional. Napoleon Bonaparte was in a desperate struggle to conquer Europe, and he needed quick cash and did not want to have to worry about protecting France’s vast holdings in North America. He unexpectedly offered the French territory from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains to the Americans for $15 million. Jefferson, and many others, strongly believed that Westward expansion was crucial to grow and preserve this young, agrarian Republic. He personally took over negotiations, but time was of the essence before the unpredictable Napoleon changed his mind. Jefferson could not wait for Congress to meet and approve the purchase, so he authorized it himself, acknowledging that “the less that is said about my constitutional difficulty, the better. It will be desirable for Congress to do what is necessary in silence.”


ABOVE: Lewis & Clark (with Indian guide)

After the Purchase, he authorized the controversial Lewis & Clark expedition to explore the newly acquired territory. The boundaries of the Louisiana territory were always vague and approximate, so he instructed Lewis & Clark to be generous in their definition of what was the Louisiana territory, thereby grabbing even more territory than he had purchased. He illegally sent them into Spanish territory all the way to the Pacific, claiming it was only a “scientific” expedition. He then got Congress to authorize almost dictatorial powers to where Jefferson himself ran the territorial government. Historian Joseph Ellis calls Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase actions “the most dramatic and far-reaching executive decision ever made by an American president.” The irony here is that Jefferson sincerely believed in limited federal power and distrusted a centralized government, yet he exercised it more grandly and expansively than almost any other president we have had. He rightfully saw the opportunity of a generation, and he took it, constitutional scruples be damned.


ABOVE: The Louisiana Purchase

Jefferson’s one huge mistake was the Embargo Acts. Trying to stay out of the world war between the French and the British, he imposed the ridiculous Embargo Act of 1807, closing off American trade internationally, thinking that it would bring the French and British to their knees and force them to deal more favorably with us. Vastly overestimating our importance to world economics at that point, he brought on an economic catastrophe for the U.S. and ended up not avoiding the war with Britain, although that came under his successor and acolyte, James Madison.

Pros:
• Smooth transition of power from one party to another
• Ended the importation of slaves
• Louisiana Purchase
• Willing to allow pragmatic opportunities override strict principles
• Probably the most brilliant man to ever hold the office

Cons:
• Embargo Act of 1807
• Willfully kicked the slavery issue down the road for successors to deal with, especially by not addressing it in the new Louisiana Territory