Thomas Jefferson

I was born in 1743 in Albemarle County, Virginia, inheriting from my father, a planter and surveyor, some 5,000 acres of land, and from my mother, a Randolph, high social standing. I studied at the College of William and Mary, then read law. In 1772 I married Martha Wayles Skelton, a widow, and took her to live in my partly constructed mountaintop home, Monticello.Freckled and sandy-haired, rather tall and awkward is how I would describe myself as a young man. I was never what you would consider a public speaker. In the Virginia House of Burgesses and the Continental Congress, I contributed my pen rather than my voice to the patriot cause. As the "silent member" of the Congress, I, at 33, drafted the Declaration of Independence. In years following I labored to make its words a reality in Virginia. Most notably, I wrote a bill establishing religious freedom, enacted in 1786. I succeeded Benjamin Franklin as minister to France in 1785. My sympathy for the French Revolution led me into conflict with Alexander Hamilton when I was Secretary of State in President Washington's Cabinet. I resigned in 1793.Sharp political conflict developed, and two separate parties, the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans, began to form. I gradually assumed leadership of the Republicans, who sympathized with the revolutionary cause in France. Attacking Federalist policies, I opposed a strong centralized Government and championed the rights of states.As a reluctant candidate for President in 1796, I came within three votes of election. Through a flaw in the Constitution, I became Vice President, although an opponent of President Adams. In 1800 the defect caused a more serious problem. Republican electors, attempting to name both a President and a Vice President from their own party, cast a tie vote between myself and Aaron Burr. The House of Representatives settled the tie. Hamilton, disliking both myself and Burr, nevertheless urged my election.When I assumed the Presidency, the crisis in France had passed. I slashed Army and Navy expenditures, cut the budget, eliminated the tax on whiskey so unpopular in the West, yet reduced the national debt by a third. I also sent a naval squadron to fight the Barbary pirates, who were harassing American commerce in the Mediterranean. Further, although the Constitution made no provision for the acquisition of new land, I suppressed my quaulms over constitutionality when I had the opportunity to acquire the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon in 1803.During my second term, I was increasingly preoccupied with keeping the Nation from involvement in the Napoleonic wars, though both England and France interfered with the neutral rights of American merchantmen. my attempted solution, an embargo upon American shipping, worked badly and was unpopular.I retired to Monticello to ponder such projects as my grand designs for the University of Virginia. A French nobleman observed that I had placed my house and my mind "on an elevated situation, from which I might contemplate the universe."And so I have done until now. However, the current state of our nation has caused me much unrest. It is my intent to assist with the inevitable rebellion.In the thick of party conflict in 1800, I wrote in a private letter, "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."This holds true today and I cannot rest with our great nation in such a state. We must unite the common citizen to the goal of reclaiming control of our government. I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4 mspmb src="http://lads.myspace.com/flash/Donation/DonationBadge_Bl ue_Paul.swf" quality="high" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="290" height="153" name="DonationBadge" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" flashvars="bgColor=blue"