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Thomas Jefferson: Born: April 13, 1743 Died: July 4, 1826 First Term: 1801-1805 Vice President: Aaron Burr Second Term: 1805-1809 Vice President: George Clinton Political Party: Republican

Overview: Thomas Jefferson served as the third President of the United States of America. Jefferson had had some experience in the federal government before he became President when he served as Vice President for four years under John Adams and Secretary of State for George Washington. Overall Jefferson deserves a B+ for his efforts as President.

Jefferson had many different goals he wanted to accomplish during his terms in office. Like the Presidents before him Jefferson wanted to unite the states. He wanted the United States to expand west, which he accomplished with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. A big goal was to get rid of the Alien and Sedition Acts, which he allowed to lapse early into his Presidency. One thing that Jefferson really wanted to do was to stay at peace during the time of war between the British and French and during the Napoleonic Wars. Overall Jefferson accomplished most of the goals he set.

Jefferson, like the presidents before him, had a good relationship with Congress. He got them to allow the Alien and Sedition Acts to lapse and got the tax on whiskey to be lifted with made a lot of Americans happy. He and Congress also passed a law that abolished the importing of slaves into the United States. When Jefferson did not want to go to war with the French and British he passed the Embargo Act with kept then out of war. He also made a new amendment to the Constitution. The Twelfth Amendment said that Americans vote for the President and Vice president separately.

Jefferson made a lot of good decision while acting as the President. He bought the Louisiana Territory, which is arguably his best decision, at three cents an acre. This expanded the United States far west, made the country much larger and made the people very happy. To explore the land Jefferson conceived the Louis and Clark Expedition to explore the new land. Jefferson’s decision to abolish the slave trade in the United States was the first step to ending slavery in the country. Jefferson also cut the national debt by a third and cut the budget on military spending. The United States always paid the pirates to not attack their ships rather then going to war with them. Suddenly they wanted more money and Jefferson would not pay. The Americans sent most of their naval vessels. The pirates ended up agreeing to not charge the fee anymore. But not all of Jefferson’s decisions work out well.

The Embargo Act in 1807 was probably Jefferson’s worst call as president. This law prohibited all American ships to pull into foreign ports and would not allow foreign ships to unload at American ports. This was passed as a way to stay out of war because British and French were harassing and attacking American ships. Jefferson hoped this would hurt the foreign countries by knocking off the trade but it backfired. America was the country that suffered. Farmers had surpluses of crops going back. Dockworkers, merchants and sailors became unemployed. This hurt the nation’s economy but ended after 15 months.

Jefferson left a good influence on the United States after he left. He bought a lot more land for the people and the many future generations. He abolished the slave trade, the Alien and Sedition Acts and the tax on liquor which all were good for the country. He added a new amendment, which is still existent. The new amendment gave the president “executive privileged.’ This meant that Jefferson did not have to show up to the court case involving Aaron Burr. Jefferson also appointed three people to the Supreme Court.

Overall Jefferson did a good job as the President of the United States. The country was definitely a better, and much larger, place with Jefferson. Besides a few, Jefferson made very good decisions. He receives a B.

Works Cited Degregorio, William A. The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents. Fort Lee: Barricade Books, 2005. Print. History. 2006. Web. 17 Sept. 2009. . Thomas Jefferson. Web. .