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Thomas Jefferson Birth: April 13, 1743 Death: July 4, 1826 Political Party: Democratic-Republic Terms in Office: March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1809 (2 terms) Vice Presidents: Aaron Burr (1801-1805) George Clinton (1805-1809)

Through his presidency, Thomas Jefferson ushered in the new century along with an improved nation, with a smooth transition between political parties in the “Revolution of 1800”. Being extremely moderate, Jefferson tried his best to satisfy both parties while still moving his nation forward. His peaceful nature drove him to avoid war and foreign entanglement, and at times this was problematic. He deserves a solid B for his presidency, because his foreign policy became both his strength and his weakness.

Being the author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was in touch with the beliefs this country was built on and desired to “restore the republican experiment” by checking the growth of the bureaucracy and repairing the preceding administration’s abuses of power. His goals included reducing the national debt, decreasing the standing army, and to smoothly transition the country from a Federalist president onto a Republican president. He reduced, though not drastically, the number of president appointed employees. To undo some of the unnecessary Federalist abuses of power he repealed the unconstitutional Sedition Acts and reduced the years it took to become a citizen from 14 to 5 years. During the course of his two terms, the national debt reduced from nearly $80 million to $57 million, even with him spending $15 million in the Louisiana Purchase. Also, he convinced Congress to repeal the excise tax because it hurt his fellow farmers. This however, was the only aspect of the Hamiltonian bank system that Jefferson changed. He reduced the standing army down to 3,500 men.

Jefferson had a good relationship with his Congress, seeing as he convinced them to repeal things such as the Sedition Acts and the excise tax, even when the Federalists were the majority over the first two years of his term. Over the last seven years of his term, Jefferson benefited from the Republicans being the majority party in Congress. He found support for most of his actions in his Congress, including his decision to reduce the size of the distrustful standing army. He also stayed on good terms with members of his Congress by hosting and inviting them to dinner parties often. Even when he doubted the constitutionality of purchasing the trans-Mississippi lands, Congress approved because it was for the betterment of the nation.

Jefferson’s most positive action was the Louisiana Purchase. He went against his preference to stay away from foreign entanglement for the sake of saving the important city of New Orleans. Also, he struggled with his conscience afterwards because there wasn’t anything in the constitution which said the president had the right to purchase foreign land. With the bettering of this nation in mind, Jefferson paid $15 million for most of the land west of the Mississippi River, more than doubling the size of the United States. To explore the new expanse of land, Jefferson sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their famous expedition. Through this the United States broadened their horizons, and later gave the United States reason to claim the Oregon Country.

Jefferson’s most negative action was the Embargo Act of 1807. Being the passive man he was, Jefferson thought that since both Britain and France depended on the United States for food and raw materials, he could cut off exports to Europe and the two countries would respect the United States’ neutrality. Contrary to this, the Embargo Act dramatically affected the United States economy, going from making $108 million in exports to $22 million. New Englanders were unemployed and Southerners saw large amounts of tobacco, cotton, and grain pile up because it was not being exported. The Embargo Act hurt American citizens more than it affected the foreign countries. Though the act was later repealed in 1809, Jefferson lost much of his support. There is one positive to this act which is that since the Americans could not rely on exporting goods, they built and reopened factories, creating a boom in American industry.

One of the most important decisions of Jefferson’s time was the approval and ratification of the 12th Amendment. This amendment factored in the new political parties to make the election of a President and Vice President more pertinent. Instead of voting for two presidents and making the one whom has fewer votes the vice president, voting for President and Vice President were done separately. Now there was less chance of having a Vice President and President whom were members of different political parties therefore avoiding some inter-administration conflict. This influenced Presidents to this day because we still use the same system. Also, Jefferson set a precedent which lasted 112 years, where the President did not personally address Congress because he though it was too monarchical. In general, he made the position of President less about being rich and powerful, and more about the decisions he made and the bettering of this nation.

Throughout his two terms in office, Jefferson progressed the nation by leaps as opposed to steps. Perhaps, if Jefferson would not have continued with a second term in office he would have deserved a better grade because most of his bad decisions were made during the second four years in office. The country overall was better off at the end of Jefferson’s terms in office because he reestablished our American rights and always had his country in mind when making decisions, therefore he deserved a B.

Bibliography: [] [] The Britannica Desktop Encyclopedia __Presidential Campaigns__ by Paul F. Boller, Jr. The American Pageant 12th Edition []