***(Editor’s Note: In conjunction with the Inauguration of America’s 44th President, “The Thirsty Quill” is publishing a series entitled “Ranking The Presidents.” There is no ‘exact science’ to these rankings other than personal opinion based on such factors as policy, performance, popularity, perseverance, integrity, and legacy. Aside from those Presidents ranked in the top 25% and the bottom 25%, there is a great deal of ‘wiggle room’ for discretionary placement and movement. These rankings are strictly the personal opinion of the Editor of ‘The Quill,’ and should not be regarded as an academic survey of any type. Debate of these rankings is highly encouraged and appreciated.)***

#6: Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)

It frustrates me a great deal to assign the #6 spot to Thomas Jefferson. His placement on this list has been a literal Tug-o-War between my patriotism and my conscience. Over the years, he has been a President that I have come to respect…and question. He is a man that I have admired since I first fell in love with America and her past, yet there are several aspects of his life and Presidency that leave me wondering “just who was the real Thomas Jefferson?”

When my wife and I make our annual pilgrimage to Washington, D.C., his shrine is clearly my favorite. I draw so much inspiration from walking up those steep steps to the open-air rotunda, and feel so inadequate standing beneath the oversized statue of his likeness. His quotes (many on liberty and standing against tyranny), circle the top of the room, and if I’m not careful, I often catch myself getting dizzy while turning my body to read those pointed words engraved in the stone above. I will usually walk outside and grab a quiet seat on the steps overlooking the Tidal Basin of the Potomac. That’s where a lot of my ideas have come from over the years (including the one to start this blog), right there on the steps of that great monument.

But who was Thomas Jefferson?

He was another native son of Virginia, a wealthy plantation owner who would later lay the foundation for one of the most esteemed Universities in the South (The University of Virginia). Born in 1743, Jefferson was well-educated, due in large part to his father’s fortune. He had advantages in his early life that would serve him (and his nation) quite well in later years. After graduating from The College of William and Mary, Jefferson went on to study law and was just the right age to join the growing chorus of patriotic rhetoric in his home state. Thomas was chosen to serve on multiple committees that were aimed at promoting an independency among the colonies from Great Britain, including the all-important Second Continental Congress. Jefferson did not have a reputation for being a motivational speaker among the ranks of his peers, but he was unrivaled with his weapon of choice: the quill. His writing skills and his uncanny ability to draft resolutions earned him a prominent spot as an architect of the Revolution.

Jefferson’s most notable pre-Presidential accomplishment was in being the key author of the Declaration of Independence. It is important that I interject here the fact that ironically, Thomas Jefferson died on July 4^th, 1826. Even more strange was the fact that his longtime political nemesis, John Adams, died the very same day. Regardless, Jefferson was given a very long leash in drafting the Declaration. It remains unclear exactly where all of his influences and ideas for the document came from, but rest assured, most were inherited ideals from Enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke. The Declaration of Independence remains one of the most (if not the most) important documents of our national heritage.

Jefferson was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, the Continental Congress (mentioned above), a diplomat to France, the Governor of Virginia, Secretary of State to George Washington, Vice President, and an accomplished writer and inventor.

In the Election of 1800, Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied one another in the Electoral College. With some help from Alexander Hamilton, the House of Representatives broke the deadlock and selected Jefferson as the nation’s 3^rd President. It didn’t take long for Jefferson to be faced with controversy, as outgoing President John Adams had wreaked havoc with his appointment of the infamous “Midnight Judges.” The confusion ultimately led to a Supreme Court showdown in Marbury v. Madison, which later determined the very significant concept known as “judicial review.”

Of course, Jefferson is responsible for the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon and France…at roughly four cents an acre! Don’t let the name fool you, as the exchange included much more than the boot-shaped state (we know today) that borders the Gulf of Mexico. The territory doubled the size of our nation, and included what would later become multiple states heading northward through the Midwest and beyond. As a result, Jefferson authorized the renowned expeditions of Lewis and Clark.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Jefferson had some aspects of his life that I find quite troubling. Most notably, the same man who penned the words “all men are created equal,” was in fact a slaveholder when he wrote them. In recent years, it has also been concluded that Jefferson had an illicit relationship with a slave girl, resulting in a child of mixed descent. This controversy was kept quiet for nearly two centuries before being revealed that in fact, there was a link between the Jefferson name and African-Americans who are the descendents of his slaves.

The Embargo Act of 1807 was highly unpopular and earned Jefferson a great deal of criticism. Among his many writings include the “Jefferson Bible,” which provides a confusing glance into Jefferson’s strange religious beliefs. While he often made reference to God and Christian scripture, it was widely known that Jefferson’s brand of Deism didn’t exactly align with accepted Christian traditions and practices.

There is still some glimmer of debate over the “resources” Jefferson used while writing the Declaration of Independence, but that discussion is best reserved for a more lengthy assessment. He is also one of a handful of Presidents immortalized on our currency, by adorning both the nickel and the $2 bill. 

Notable Quotations: “When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property.”

“Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.”

“In matters of principle, stand like a rock; in matters of taste, swim with the current.”

“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.”

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.”

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”

“That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.”

“It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself.”

“Few die, and none resign.” (on politicians)

“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle.”

“The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.”

“Never spend your money before you have it.”

#6: Thomas Jefferson

PRESIDENTIAL RANKINGS & REVIEWS SO FAR: 

#1:

#2:

#3:

#4:

#5:

#6: Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)

#7: Andrew Jackson (1829-1837)

#8: Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt (1901-1909)

#9: Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)

#10: James Monroe (1817-1825)

#11: Harry S. Truman (1945-1953)

#12: John F. Kennedy (1961-1963)

#13: Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)

#14: James K. Polk (1845-1849)

#15: Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969)

#16: George W. Bush (2001-2009)

#17: John Adams (1797-1801)

#18: William McKinley (1897-1901)

#19: William Taft (1909-1913)

#21/20: Grover Cleveland (1885-89/1893-97)

#22: George H.W. Bush (1989-1993)

#23: Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)

#24: Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)

#25: John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)

#26: Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881)

#27: Gerald Ford (1974-1977)

#28: Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)

#29: Zachary Taylor (March 1849-July 1850)

#30: Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)

#31: Chester Arthur (1881-1885)

#32: Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)

#33: John Tyler (1841-1845)

#34: Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877)

#35: Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)

#36: Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)

#37: James Buchanan (1857-1861)

#38: Richard Nixon (1969-1974)

#39: Bill Clinton (1993-2001)

#40: Warren Harding (March 1921-August 1923)

#41: Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)

#42*: James Garfield (March 1881-September 1881)

#43*: William Henry Harrison (March 1841-April 1841)