Thomas Jefferson

Political Party: Democratic Republican

Term: 1801-1809

Nickname: Sage of Monticello

Jefferson used the new three-fifths compromise which gave the southern slave owners an extra fraction of a vote to win against Adams. In all honesty, Adams would have won a second term had it not been for the inflated southern vote. Jefferson during his presidency is most known for his buying of the Louisiana Purchase from France. Though Congress wasn’t too keen on spending money it didn’t have, they bought the bargain from France to double the size of the U.S. Jefferson also won the Barbary wars, a war with pirates. Yes, the United States did officially have a war with pirates. Jefferson then decided to pass the Embargo Act of 1807 which stopped all trade with foreign nations, but especially Britain. The embargo backfired and sent the U.S. into an economic tailspin. Jefferson later repealed the act. Jefferson is better known for his writing of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson was probably the smartest and well rounded president we ever had, having a extensive library that was the largest in the country. He later sold the three thousand books to the Library of Congress after the small library was burned down during the War of 1812. Was Jefferson generous? Yes, but he partly only did it to get money to support his decadent lifestyle. Jefferson was huge into interior decorating and having big parties. This quickly led him to bankruptcy and died nearly penny-less. Way to be. Jefferson and John Adams became enemies after Jefferson’s underhanded election win and they didn’t reconcile until they were old. Both men ended up dying on the fourth of July.

Grade: B
Jefferson in my opinion did much more outside of his presidency than he did in. The Louisiana Purchase helps him out a lot, but the Embargo was just a terrible idea.