Matt+G.+-+TJ

=**Thomas Jefferson**=

Birth Date- April 13, 1743 Death Date- July 4, Political Party- Democratic-Republican Dates of Term(s) in Office- March 4, 1801-March 3, 1809 (two terms) Vice President by Term- First Term- Aaron Burr; Second Term- George Clinton

Thomas Jefferson was a successful president and a great leader of America. However, he had a few mistakes while in office, but they were no where near as important as the positives outcomes that he had accomplished while in office. For this, he receives the grade of an A-.

Thomas Jefferson's goals while in office for the first term were to slash expenditures of the army and navy, cut the budget, expand the states, eliminate the tax on whiskey, and reduce the national debt. He was able to accomplish all of these things during the first term of his presidency. He was also able to acquire the Louisiana Territory from France. With this new acquisition to the states, he had two explorers, Lewis and Clark, travel through the new Territory all of the way to the Pacific Ocean. Jefferson's goal during his second term dealt mostly with foreign affairs. During his second term, he was very occupied keeping America from getting involved in the Napoleonic Wars and dealing with the British and French who interfered with the neutral rights of American merchants. This was the poorer of his two terms, but he was still a very popular man.

Thomas Jefferson had a good relationship with that of Congress. He talked to them very frequently based on what kind of actions he was dealing with at the time. His first idea after he was elected president, was to reduce the military force, this idea was passed by Congress almost immediately. None of Jefferson's ideas were vetoed, nor did he veto any of Congresses ideas. This shows that Congress liked Jefferson and trusted his decisions.

The best thing that Jefferson could have done during his term was to purchase the Lousianna Purchase from France. This had a major impact on America both at present times and in the future. With the new land, it gave room for people to expand to and a chance to create more states for the Union. It also created a place for peace from Napoleonic France, which was residing in the Lousianna Territory. This helped keep peace in the states as well gain land to add more states.

The worst thing that Jefferson did in his presidency was the Nonimportation Act. He enacted this act in the year of 1806. This act did not allow imports from anybody else in the world into America. People of America were angry everywhere because they needed people to trade with to help boost their economys. Jefferson fixed this by making the Embargo Act, but this was also hard because most things were not allowed to be exported or imported.

The most important decision of Jefferson's presidency was purchasing the Louisianna Territory. This gain of land helped start new states and gave opputunities to people after his terms. This was probably one of the greatest achievements that any president has ever achieved.

The country was better off at the end of Jefferson's term than it was at the beginning. He earned an A- due to the fact that he expanded the land, cut the national debt, eliminated the tax on whiskey, and slashed the expenditures of the army and navy. The only thing that prevented Jefferson from getting the A+ was because of the acts he established while Britain and France were fighting. Overall though, he was one of the best presidents in the brief history of America.

Works Cited:

"Thomas Jefferson." __Bibliography of Thomas Jefferson__. The White House. 17 Sept. 2008 

Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. American Pageant : Advanced Placement. 12th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin College Division, 2001.

"Thomas Jefferson." 17. Sep. 2008. 

Kindig, Thomas. "Thomas Jefferson." __Signers of the Declaration of Independence__. 4 July 1995. 17 Sept. 2008 http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/jefferson.htm.