In 1826, Thomas Jefferson was laid to rest at Monticello beside his wife and daughters. His epitaph, which he composed, 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.”
Jefferson’s tombstone does not bear a word of his political accomplishment — forty years … forty years as an officeholder, Virginia assemblyman, Continental congressman, ambassador to France, secretary of state, vice president, and president of the United States. He felt that these were honors the people had given him, and he wanted no credit for them. But the three accomplishments chiseled into the “coarse stone” he specified for his monument were his gifts to the people of the United States. They sum up Jefferson’s vision of a nation of free people with the education and culture to preserve and enjoy their freedom. Here is his story.
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Jefferson is a wonderful history of one of America’s Founding Fathers and its third president. His family, particularly his wife suffered as a result of his devotion to public life and lost several infant children. A superbly talented man who didn’t seem to waste a second of an enormously fulfilling life. I am an Australian with a love for …
JEFFERSON by Davidson Butler can be classified as both a biography and a history book. It is written in a manner that is easy to read and understand and is not just dry facts. I enjoyed the book which covers the life of Thomas Jefferson as both a person and a political figure.
I rated this book three stars because there is very little information …
This book is not a biography. It provides an in-depth of the struggle between Alexander Hamilton and Jefferson for the way the shape of our developing democracy. Quite interesting and informative.
Simple overview of Jefferson
This is a fairly short overview of the life and accomplishments of Thomas Jefferson. It is very pro-Jefferson, and not nearly in depth as some of the other biographies of Thomas Jefferson that are out there. Despite that, it provides a different perspective and some information that is missing in many of the other books, including Jefferson’s …
Good historical narrative but too long. Overly detailed.
Great book. Should be read by all those fools who demonize Jefferson because he owned slaves.
More to this great leader , heroic , visionary then one fault that was common in the early 1700s.
I’m a big History person
If you are an American, this is a must read.
Very easy to read an full history of TJ”s life
It skipped much of the bad in Jefferson’s life, but emphasized all of the good from a biased eye.
Concise history of Jefferson, his life, struggles, family, frustrations and excellent discussion of his participation of US becoming US. I grew quite fond of Thomas Jefferson with this read.
I learned so much re that important period in our history and the important people who started this great experiment in government, thought it was excessively wordy, however
I have always been interested in our Founding Fathers. This book fleshes out what I knew of Jefferson.
Well written and made the characters very believable. Not unlike listening to current history. Shame we don’t learn from our past events.
Admittedly I am a Jefferson fan! This book mostly covers the Presidential years. It rather reminds the reader that not all was polite and genial in that period of history though it might seem so looking back. If you want a quick coverage of those years this is an easy read.
The author is obviously a fan of Thomas Jefferson; he presents him in a very favorable light which is not always the case when compared to the biographies of other founding fathers written by other authors.
The book is easy to read because instead of presenting the reader with extensive quotes from correspondence between Jefferson and his …
Well written, informative, and very readable. It was a very interesting book about a remarkable man. Recommend to any reader interested in American history and our founding fathers.
Too hard (for me at least) to read in 18th century English and spelling.
Liked the information but it was like being back in school. Very dry.