He was an amazing man. and his own economic policies as President--specifically the embargo--resulted in the United States first depression. He was also guilty of masterminding a slanderous newspaper campaign against Washington (and later. " The key is education. Yet Jefferson also believed in compromise. but more often than not I found myself reflecting on other books on Jefferson that really broke new ground and had greater relevance in understanding the man. Random House and the Goodreads Giveaways for giving me this book. He does correct many of the myths that I had been taught. reflective gentleman was cast:Author of the Declaration of Independence; Founder of the University of Virginia; twice President of the United States (1801-1809) and a renaissance man of genius. Jefferson would have deplored the division and paralysis in today's US House of Representatives. by repeating uncritically Jefferson's rather ridiculous anecdote about Hamilton's adoration of Julius Caesar (one wonders why Hamilton so frequently. then we must hold a good understanding of their era and only then. Jefferson's domestic life prior to the revolution. he could enter into their feelings. Madison in only a paragraph. com/gp/product/0812973461/ref=cm_cr_asin_lnk/177-6869820-4111514">American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House on Andrew Jackson it's something of a mystery as to why Meacham would turn his energies to a biography on Thomas Jefferson. a good study of Jefferson's personality. encouraging them to invade England. Should America be totally independent. and these come all too frequently. This is an excellent book. This is an outstanding book. book well written and meticulously researched. 244)This displays for all of us the need to see individuals not for what they can do for us but what we can bring together for them. but this book gave me some excellent insight into his personality. he did things that bordered on treason. Meacham's fascinating book explains why this is so. and ordered the purchase of weaponry without Congress' approval in spite of the fact that the Constitution strictly prohibited both events. Having lived in the Independence Hall area. especially when compared with Meacham's writing style. Meacham thinks very highly of Jefferson. As Meacham points out there really is no president since who embodied such contradictions. but too long for the average armchair historian to enjoy. He didn't think that white folks and black folks could live together. " Jefferson was a master of using power in understated. and was extremely outspoken. Jefferson kept it despite its unenforceability once they returned to Virginia