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The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson occupies a special niche in the hagiology of American Founding Fathers. His name is invoked for a staggering range of causes; statists and libertarians, nationalists and States' righters, conservatives and radicals all claim his blessing. In this book, Forrest McDonald examines Jefferson's performance as the nation's leader, evaluating his ability as a policy-maker, administrator, and diplomat.
He delineates, carefully and sympathetically, the Jeffersonian ideology and the agrarian ideal that underlay it; he traces the steps by which the ideology was transformed into a program of action; and he concludes that the interplay between the ideology and the action accounted both for the unparalleled success of Jefferson's first term in office, and for the unmitigated failure of the second term.
Jefferson as president was a man whose ideological commitments prevented him from reversing calamitous policy stances, a man who could be ruthless in suppressing civil rights when it was politically expedient, a man who was rarely, in the conventional sense of the word, a Jeffersonian. McDonald's portrait reveals him to be at once greater, simpler, and more complexly human than the mere "apostle of liberty" or "spokesman for democracy" that his adulators have relegated him to being.
He delineates, carefully and sympathetically, the Jeffersonian ideology and the agrarian ideal that underlay it; he traces the steps by which the ideology was transformed into a program of action; and he concludes that the interplay between the ideology and the action accounted both for the unparalleled success of Jefferson's first term in office, and for the unmitigated failure of the second term.
Jefferson as president was a man whose ideological commitments prevented him from reversing calamitous policy stances, a man who could be ruthless in suppressing civil rights when it was politically expedient, a man who was rarely, in the conventional sense of the word, a Jeffersonian. McDonald's portrait reveals him to be at once greater, simpler, and more complexly human than the mere "apostle of liberty" or "spokesman for democracy" that his adulators have relegated him to being.
216 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
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About the author
Forrest McDonald
41 books29 followersDr. McDonald was a Distinguished Research Professor of History at the University of Alabama, where he was the Sixteenth Jefferson Lecturer in the Humanities in 1987. He was awarded the Ingersoll Prize in 1990. Professor McDonald is the author of several books including Novus Ordo Seclorum (University Press of Kansas, 1985), and The American Presidency: Roots, Establishment, Evolution (University Press of Kansas, 1994).
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 8, 2014
Having now read several books on either Thomas Jefferson's life or events in it, I picke this book to read about the Jefferson Administration and Jefferson as President. This book is an academic scholarly work, and reads like it so probably not a wide appeal as an easy read. However, for someone wanting to get in depth on the complexities of the diplomatic, political, and legal challenges Jefferson faced as our third President, this is an excellent book for that.
Overall, MacDonald shows Jefferson's successes in his first term with the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and the First Barbary War. However, MacDonald also shows that the ideological principles that led him to a successful first term, by his second term, became a straight jacket during his second, leading to miscalculation after miscalculation in dealing with Britain and France during the Napoleonic Wars, leaving America weakened and ineffectual, and resulting in a largely unsuccessful Jefferson second term.
As a scholastic work, this is a good book for the college level political science student, Jefferson enthusiast, or avid history buff. For someone looking for a pop bio, it might not be what they are looking for.
Overall, MacDonald shows Jefferson's successes in his first term with the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and the First Barbary War. However, MacDonald also shows that the ideological principles that led him to a successful first term, by his second term, became a straight jacket during his second, leading to miscalculation after miscalculation in dealing with Britain and France during the Napoleonic Wars, leaving America weakened and ineffectual, and resulting in a largely unsuccessful Jefferson second term.
As a scholastic work, this is a good book for the college level political science student, Jefferson enthusiast, or avid history buff. For someone looking for a pop bio, it might not be what they are looking for.
December 10, 2011
The first word that comes to mind when I think of this book is "biased." That being said, Forrest McDonald is one of the preeminent scholars of the early republic, and the reader is given a good sense of the major events and policies of the Jefferson administration in this book. However, comparing this one to McDonald's The Presidency of George Washington, it becomes apparent that McDonald is a Hamiltonian at heart. Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that, but for this series, I wish that someone a bit more balanced would have been chosen to write this book.
June 1, 2023
The temperament and skillset required of the revolutionary are not necessarily the same as those required for governing men. In Forrest McDonald’s “The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson,” a critical, scholarly examination of Jefferson’s presidency, the author amply documents the aforementioned truism. Jefferson, planter, statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and author of the Declaration, who served as president from 1801 to 1809, was a man in full; however, his actions as president were contentious, and his presidential legacy is ambiguous.
Thomas Jefferson came to power as an ideologue in the Oppositionist mode of Bolingbroke. With respect to Jefferson’s tenure as chief executive, the “Revolution of 1800,” if there was one, occurred in stages, if at all. Administratively, the government was purged of monarchists, i.e, Hamiltonians. Replacements were selected for reasons of patronage and merit. Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, was charged with dismantling Hamilton’s fiscal machinery, while implementing economizing methods that would reduce the size and scope of government. Gallatin also served as an intermediary between Jefferson and Congress. Hence, Jefferson could influence legislation while appearing to remain to be above the fray.
Jefferson presided over the administration with a relaxed manner, and influenced congressmen and diplomats at smart dinner parties, where witty repartee was the currency of the realm. Jefferson’s cabinet meetings were collegial and democratic. Yet, the cabinet generally reflected his will. Undeniably, he was a strong president- at least in his first term- and his achievements were a function of his intellect, and his personality.
As McDonald notes, “chance and misinformation,” the “most potent determinants of history” plagued Jefferson’s late tenure in office. Jefferson’s “ideological fixation” was perversely blinding, and the Republican administration was operable only to the extent Thomas Jefferson was fully engaged. When Jefferson was indisposed or apathetic, as on several occasions in his second term, the government became dysfunctional. Jeffersonian democracy could not replenish itself without Jefferson at the helm.
Jefferson’s ideologically motivated policies did not withstand the storm of time, space and events. Gutting the Hamiltonian tax structure did not then evolve into a fiscally prudent and sustainable alternative. The trimming of our military force structure was disastrous. The resulting weakness led to economic hardship, and, ultimately, involvement in a war that was both avoidable and unnecessary.
Jefferson’s fixation on the troublesome volume of Federalist dissent led him to embark on a path designed to destroy the independent judiciary. By attacking and impeaching judges who held “dangerous opinions,” Jefferson hoped to intimidate and cudgel his detractors. As Luther Martin stated, ours is a “government of laws. But how can it be such, unless the laws, while they exist, are sacred and impartially, without regard to popularity, carried into execution?” Only an independent judiciary could perform this function, and preserve our liberties. Thus, Jefferson’s reliance on impeachment and other extralegal mechanisms, has, likewise, resulted in deleterious political repercussions which are still a menace today.
McDonald has written an excellent study that is critical, but balanced. While the author assumes that the reader is fairly well-versed with the people and the issues germane to the period, the text is accessible for the general reader.
Thomas Jefferson came to power as an ideologue in the Oppositionist mode of Bolingbroke. With respect to Jefferson’s tenure as chief executive, the “Revolution of 1800,” if there was one, occurred in stages, if at all. Administratively, the government was purged of monarchists, i.e, Hamiltonians. Replacements were selected for reasons of patronage and merit. Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, was charged with dismantling Hamilton’s fiscal machinery, while implementing economizing methods that would reduce the size and scope of government. Gallatin also served as an intermediary between Jefferson and Congress. Hence, Jefferson could influence legislation while appearing to remain to be above the fray.
Jefferson presided over the administration with a relaxed manner, and influenced congressmen and diplomats at smart dinner parties, where witty repartee was the currency of the realm. Jefferson’s cabinet meetings were collegial and democratic. Yet, the cabinet generally reflected his will. Undeniably, he was a strong president- at least in his first term- and his achievements were a function of his intellect, and his personality.
As McDonald notes, “chance and misinformation,” the “most potent determinants of history” plagued Jefferson’s late tenure in office. Jefferson’s “ideological fixation” was perversely blinding, and the Republican administration was operable only to the extent Thomas Jefferson was fully engaged. When Jefferson was indisposed or apathetic, as on several occasions in his second term, the government became dysfunctional. Jeffersonian democracy could not replenish itself without Jefferson at the helm.
Jefferson’s ideologically motivated policies did not withstand the storm of time, space and events. Gutting the Hamiltonian tax structure did not then evolve into a fiscally prudent and sustainable alternative. The trimming of our military force structure was disastrous. The resulting weakness led to economic hardship, and, ultimately, involvement in a war that was both avoidable and unnecessary.
Jefferson’s fixation on the troublesome volume of Federalist dissent led him to embark on a path designed to destroy the independent judiciary. By attacking and impeaching judges who held “dangerous opinions,” Jefferson hoped to intimidate and cudgel his detractors. As Luther Martin stated, ours is a “government of laws. But how can it be such, unless the laws, while they exist, are sacred and impartially, without regard to popularity, carried into execution?” Only an independent judiciary could perform this function, and preserve our liberties. Thus, Jefferson’s reliance on impeachment and other extralegal mechanisms, has, likewise, resulted in deleterious political repercussions which are still a menace today.
McDonald has written an excellent study that is critical, but balanced. While the author assumes that the reader is fairly well-versed with the people and the issues germane to the period, the text is accessible for the general reader.
April 6, 2019
This is a scholarly, detailed read. The epilogue was enough for me. The author seemed to be aiming at an audience of historians, economists, and maybe some philosophers. Terms are not easily defined, and when defined, the explanations are wordy and tangential. I would have preferred more succinct, to the point, illustrations of why the presidency of Thomas Jefferson was perhaps less great than Americans in general presume. The first term went surprisingly well. But during his second term the Western world was at war, the Jeffersonian treasury lacking money for military defense. Foreign trade became a dilemma, and in general, the advance of modernity caught up with Jefferson's pastoral view of what America should be.
The Lewis and Clark exploration was barely mentioned, even though the gaining of new territory was important to Jefferson. After reading this book, I can understand why Jefferson gave short shrift to the returning explorers and burdened Meriwether Lewis with the impossible job of governing the Louisiana territory. By the time the explorers returned, Jefferson was in his second term and feeling depleted, with events seemingly beyond his control and his ability to govern within the confines of his ideology. At one point, Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, was embroiled in a controversy over whether tyranny is justified in the cause of liberty. He was definitely in a contrasting mood to the optimistic president who had sent Lewis and Clark explorers on their mission.
In the preface, the author notes that of all the volumes written about Thomas Jefferson, less than a handful of authors have written about the eight years of Jefferson's presidency. Perhaps that is a story that belies his greatness. McDonald has dared to examine those turbulent years.
The Lewis and Clark exploration was barely mentioned, even though the gaining of new territory was important to Jefferson. After reading this book, I can understand why Jefferson gave short shrift to the returning explorers and burdened Meriwether Lewis with the impossible job of governing the Louisiana territory. By the time the explorers returned, Jefferson was in his second term and feeling depleted, with events seemingly beyond his control and his ability to govern within the confines of his ideology. At one point, Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, was embroiled in a controversy over whether tyranny is justified in the cause of liberty. He was definitely in a contrasting mood to the optimistic president who had sent Lewis and Clark explorers on their mission.
In the preface, the author notes that of all the volumes written about Thomas Jefferson, less than a handful of authors have written about the eight years of Jefferson's presidency. Perhaps that is a story that belies his greatness. McDonald has dared to examine those turbulent years.
September 5, 2020
While McDonald is certainly no Jefferson apologist - he once remarked, “I am an unreconstructed Hamiltonian Federalist, and out of my admiration for Alexander Hamilton I have long been disposed to believe the worst about Thomas Jefferson” - he nonetheless does an admirable job of pulling back the curtain and succinctly explaining both the successes and failures of our nation’s third president during an oft-ignored era of his life.
Framed as a voyage at sea, McDonald traces the Jefferson Administration’s journey from its idealistic beginnings in the “Revolution” of 1801 and early accomplishments to its ultimate end in catastrophe (“shipwreck,” as the author puts it) following a second term full of international missteps and tyrannical government overreach at home.
Framed as a voyage at sea, McDonald traces the Jefferson Administration’s journey from its idealistic beginnings in the “Revolution” of 1801 and early accomplishments to its ultimate end in catastrophe (“shipwreck,” as the author puts it) following a second term full of international missteps and tyrannical government overreach at home.
December 31, 2017
Highly critical look at Jefferson's two term presidency. McDonald doesn't try to hide that he dislikes Jefferson and everything his party stood for. Jefferson the President wasn't as terrible as McDonald makes him out to be, nor as great as some of his more avid supporters say. The truth, as always, is somewhere in between. McDonald supports his argument well though, and it's a good read to balance the many more positive Jefferson studies.
April 17, 2015
Due to his primary authorship of the American Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson is widely viewed as a strong civil libertarian. The words of the Declaration and the American constitution speak so strongly about the limitations that government has when dealing with the citizens that they are just as valid over 200 years after they were written. He was also the primary individual around which the fledgling Republican party coalesced. In fact, McDonald commonly refers to the party as the Jeffersonian Republicans.
Less well known is the manner whereby the Jefferson administration callously ignored those rights so clearly stated in those magnificent documents. People were arrested for their political persuasion and he attempted to have Federal judges removed simply because he was unhappy with their Federalist philosophy. This really was a sad time in history, as it was the first case where a president openly interpreted the law as it suited him. In my opinion, the clear statement of these actions of Jefferson while president is what makes this book. Since the Louisiana Purchase was the greatest event in the United States between independence and the war between the states, it tends to overshadow many of the other things that Jefferson did during his presidency.
Jefferson’s wholesale destruction of the American military left the country defenseless when it was being drawn into the wars between Napoleonic France and Great Britain. The consequences of these errors were monumental to the new country and his diplomatic mistakes contributed to a senseless conflict between the United States and Great Britain that served no useful purpose and could easily have destroyed the United States. Once again, McDonald is right on the mark in explaining what Jefferson did.
Thomas Jefferson is often held up to mythic proportions as a champion of liberty and as an early statesman. In this volume, he is described as he truly was, a man who professed liberty for all, but practiced it only when it suited him. This is a superb account of what he did while president.
This review also appears on Amazon
Less well known is the manner whereby the Jefferson administration callously ignored those rights so clearly stated in those magnificent documents. People were arrested for their political persuasion and he attempted to have Federal judges removed simply because he was unhappy with their Federalist philosophy. This really was a sad time in history, as it was the first case where a president openly interpreted the law as it suited him. In my opinion, the clear statement of these actions of Jefferson while president is what makes this book. Since the Louisiana Purchase was the greatest event in the United States between independence and the war between the states, it tends to overshadow many of the other things that Jefferson did during his presidency.
Jefferson’s wholesale destruction of the American military left the country defenseless when it was being drawn into the wars between Napoleonic France and Great Britain. The consequences of these errors were monumental to the new country and his diplomatic mistakes contributed to a senseless conflict between the United States and Great Britain that served no useful purpose and could easily have destroyed the United States. Once again, McDonald is right on the mark in explaining what Jefferson did.
Thomas Jefferson is often held up to mythic proportions as a champion of liberty and as an early statesman. In this volume, he is described as he truly was, a man who professed liberty for all, but practiced it only when it suited him. This is a superb account of what he did while president.
This review also appears on Amazon
November 13, 2010
Unfortunately, I did not make it very far in this book at all. The writing style what the author chose to cover and how he covered it, led me me to believed that it was going to be a very biased book. I have moved on to Henry Adams book on Thomas Jefferson, which so far, is very much more my style.
March 18, 2012
Very informative, and rather surprising. I can't imagine this book has such a low average rating for any reason other than fans of Jefferson not warming up to some of the hideous facts about the man's terms.
May 29, 2012
At first I thought that McDonald was in love with Jefferson, and I was frustrated at how biased this biography was. But then I was informed by my professor that McDonald was actually pro-Hamilton. As I re-read parts of this book for a term paper, I enjoy it more and more.
July 30, 2013
Well i noticed in some of the reviews the readers believed at first the author was a huge fan of Thomas Jefferson only to find out later he basically attacked Jefferson and to that I would agree. With that being said it still was a very informative albeit dry book.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews