It must have been taught to me at a very young age, but I have always believed that Thomas Jefferson was a very great man. He was president, after all. A founding father, a diplomat, an inventor, philosopher and a gentleman farmer. But I've never really understood beyond a very superficial awareness - why we all think he is the demigod of American history.
I still think he was an incredible man and we were lucky to have him around when it came time to put together a new nation. Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

If you read this biography of Jefferson - and you should - you will come to understand a whole different person than the legend of Thomas Jefferson. May be shocking to hear but the guy was a misogynist, racist, hypocrite - but at the same time brilliant, visionary and compassionate. He cannot be measured by contemporary standards. Neither should his faults be excused for being a product of the times.
Thomas Jefferson was who he was. He and others had incredible conviction to start a what they did - and were the first to do it. And their argument in its simplest form was brilliant! Englishmen who should be afforded the rights of Englishman.
On the eve of the 237 anniversary of his handiwork, despite all the contradictions, we needed Thomas Jefferson. Read this book. It is concise and to the point.

It’s amazing how much Bernstein is able to cover in his little book. He outlines Jefferson’s political and personal career, his ideologies, his successes, and his failures. His footnotes and bibliography are a great starting point for further research. There really aren’t any wasted words here, and it’s a testament to Bernstein’s skills that he’s able to stay focused and lively from start to finish.

Bernstein argues that Jefferson’s lasting legacy, for all his importance as a political figure, is his writings. Besides the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson provided major contributions to various state constitutions and statutes. Beyond all that, if it weren’t enough, there are his letters: tens of thousands of them, correspondence with the leading figures of the day. If Hamilton’s writings summed up the case for a strong federal government, Jefferson laid the case for local democracy, based on a free and well educated citizenry. Just as Jefferson and Hamilton were political rivals in their day, their intellectual descendents have been battling for the American vote ever since.

That Jefferson, a member of Virginia’s privileged planter class, was such a proponent of democracy is, as has often been noted, somewhat ironic. Bernstein outlines the factors led Jefferson in that direction. Jefferson’s time in Europe convinced him that any aristocracy would lead to a society of vast poverty and ignorance led by the privileged few. In particular, Jefferson saw the huge underclasses of Paris and London as proof that a society could not have a large urban population at its core. Instead, Bernstein argues that Jefferson’s long stay in Europe led him to a romanticized view of rural Virginia, full of strongly independent farmer-citizens who were much more capable of running their own affairs than an aristocracy ever could be. Additionally, Jefferson held a personal theology at odds with those of established churches. His struggles against state-established religion reinforced his inclination to trust local voters more than central power.

Bumping up hard against Jefferson’s democratic political ideology is his equally strongly held views that Blacks and women were unfit actors in the public square. With the exception of the formidable Abigail Adams, Jefferson avoided political discourse with women. In a similar vien, he was convinced that free Blacks could never be a part of American political life; he thought they would be too angry with White slaveholding society to ever co-exist as equals. Nonetheless, Jefferson was not a proponent of slavery and sought to limit its spread whenever he could.

The New York Times Book Review call this "The best short biography of Jefferson ever written." I feel there is a lot of truth in that statement. The brevity of the book could be deceiving. While certainly not a comprehensive study of Jefferson's life, I felt like Bernstein aptly identified the major events related to Jefferson and provided great context and explanation of those issues as a whole. It is probably the most balanced account of the issues surrounding the formation of the country, providing a great deal of insight into Great Brittain's stance on the concerns of the colonies. One the other hand, I was very disappointed that Bernstein did not spend time addressing more of the conflict with Adams or Jefferson's part in the publishing wars that occured.

Jefferson's role in the founding of American is undeniable. His ardor for intellectual thought, dedication to the republican ideal, and holistic education can still be felt today. However, he was in the truest sense of the word a politician, allowing contradictions to emerge when convenient, encouraging character assassination when needed, and using people for his own purposes only discard them when they became a liability

It's rare that I would give a book (and especially a biography on Jefferson) such a low review. I was looking forward to reading this one since I will soon be visiting Monticello, however I was somewhat disappointed.

Several times throughout this book I was startled at the low-level definitions that were provided by the Author. I understand that it's important for the Author to be sure the reader knows some of the terms that are being used but by the way in which Bernstein presented his information I seriously had to wonder whether this book was written for a middle school student.

Do we really need a paragraph set aside detailing the dangers of a state run religion?

"In a land with an established church, the government can force people to attend that church's services, or pay fines for not doing so, and to pay money for its support, and the church teaches obedience to the government."

Or how about the risk that is taken when cosigning on a loan?

"In March of 1819, he agreed to cosign a note for a close friend... Cosigning the note meant that Jefferson was promising Nicholas's creditor that if Nicholas could not repay the loan, the creditor would go to Jefferson for the money."

I think I should have read Ellis' American Sphinx...