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Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) Political Party: Republican Presidency: 1801-1809 Vice Presidents: Aaron Burr (1801-1805), George Clinton (1805-1809) Grade: C+

Thomas Jefferson, being the third president of the United States, had very high expectations. He did a great job with most things, however he did make several mistakes, which results with a C+ rating. Jefferson deserves a C because he helped the country save money, and dealt with Barbary pirates. But he also wasted time on worrying about Federalist domination in the Judicial Branch, and lost a lot of the money that he saved. The only reason Jefferson receives and C+ is because he doubled the United States in size. Jefferson had quite a few goals as president. He planned on relying less on the Army and more on a National Guard. He also wanted to obtain a Republican dominant Judiciary. In addition, Jefferson desired to remain neutral throughout the war between France and Britain at the time. Finally, the major goal that Thomas Jefferson had was to enlarge the United States.

Congress seemed to get along with Jefferson pretty well. The House of Representatives was dominant with Republicans and so was the Senate but not as dominant. This helped Jefferson repeal the Judiciary Act, the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Judiciary Act lowered the number of Supreme Court justices from six to five, which helped the Federalist maintain control. The Alien and Sedition Acts were acts that dealt with treating foreign people with disrespect. Congress also helped Jefferson pass the Embargo Act and wage the first American over seas war with Tripoli. The war in Tripoli was a war with Barbary pirates who wanted to be paid more for their services during the American Revolution. The war ended in agreement that Jefferson would pay the pirates one last time after he failed an attempt to promote a palace coup. The Embargo act cut off all British ships with US ports, which resulted in a huge economic breakdown for America.

Thomas Jefferson had many accomplishments and mistakes, but the greatest accomplishment that he has ever had was the Louisiana Purchase. When Jefferson learned that the Spanish secretly gave Louisiana to the French in 1800, he took advantage and began to negotiate with the French right away. The Emperor of France, Napoleon, needed money to pay for a new war he was planning with England. So, Napoleon negotiated with Jefferson and sold Louisiana for $15 million, or four cents per acre. This was quite a bargain for America. It doubled The United States in size and gave the Americans control of the Mississippi river, which was huge for the country’s agriculture. This was, hands down, the greatest thing Jefferson has done.

The worst thing the Jefferson has done during his presidency was the Embargo Act. While the French and British were having another war, the British were capturing American vessels, and making the crew fight for them. This resulted in the Embargo Act, which was an attempt to remain neutral. As said before, the Embargo Act cut off the British from American seaports. This resulted in a major economic breakdown, which lost over $70 million worth of exports. While the Embargo Act was with good intensions, it lost America a lot of money.

The one thing that Jefferson and his administration did that changed the world was the Louisiana Purchase. Once again, this doubled the nation is size and was a huge bargain. It improved the Country’s economy numerously and helped the agriculture by giving access to the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico. With out the Louisiana Purchase the country would be small, cramped, and not as populated as it is today.

There is no doubt that Thomas Jefferson improved the United States during his two terms. He would deserve and A for all of the great things that he did, but unfortunately he messed a couple of things up and spent too much time on things that weren’t as important, like the Judicial Branch. So the president is left with the average C+ which is a ranking that any president would be satisfied with.

Bibliography: "American President: Biography of Thomas Jefferson." //Miller Center of Public Affairs//. Web. 17 Sept. 2009. . Smith, Joseph. "Thomas Jefferson -." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Web. 17 Sept. 2009. .