The Presidency of Thomas
Jefferson was symbolized by various firsts in American history. Besides being the first President to win an
election versus an incumbent, he was also the 1st President to enter
the White House as a single man, as his wife passed away twenty years before he
would lead America.
As a leader, Jefferson was a
stronger writer and thinker, than he was speaker. He preferred sharing his ideas with the pen
as opposed to using his voice.
Jefferson’s strength and ability to eloquently transition his wisdom to
paper, led him to compose the initial draft of the Declaration of Independence,
which was signed on July 4th, 1776, ironically exactly 50 years
before his death on July 4th, 1826.
Prior to becoming President in
1801, Jefferson had a history rich in politics and civic engagement. Besides being America’s first Secretary of
State for President Washington, he also held positions such as former governor
of Virginia, former Vice President of America, and former diplomat to
France.
In 1803, through Jefferson’s
active negotiation of the Louisiana Purchase, he was instrumental in America
purchasing 530 million acres of land from the French at a cost of $15 million.
(Presently America is 2.3 billion acres in size, meaning Jefferson’s
transaction represents ¼ of the USA).
His appreciation of the value of
acquiring strategic land was attributed to him inheriting 5000 acres of land
from his father’s death.
Jefferson’s Presidency was a
dynamic time for American politics. Two
strong political parties, the Federalists and the Democratic-Republican, were
vying for influence and power. Although
America was still young, its challenges were large. Similar to today’s political climate of
Democratic vs. Republican, the two parties of the Federalists and the
Democratic-Republican had differing views on how to solve their issues and
challenges.
Surprisingly, at the time of
Jefferson’s Presidency, America had a debt of almost $90 million and Jefferson
worked diligently to reduce this debt.
With minimal chance for America to engage in war with the French and
tensions diffused, Jefferson began to reduce the budget by shrinking military
expenses. His proactive policy of fiscal
responsibility reduced the debt by almost 1/3 in a short period of time.
During Jefferson’s Presidency,
the state of Ohio was added to the union in 1803, bringing America to 17
states. Besides Jefferson founding the University of
Virginia, he kept himself occupied by being an inventor, writer, linguist, and
farmer. He had a difficult time adjusting
to life as widowed man and as such, his grown children and their families would
often times occupy the White House with him, as evidenced by his grandson being
the first person born in the White House.
No comments:
Post a Comment