#1341 Dinner with Jefferson

Listening to America

Society & Culture, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 4 June 2019

⏱️ 58 minutes

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Summary

"I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend."

— Thomas Jefferson, 1800

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This week, we ask President Jefferson about his famous dinner parties and their extensive menus. It was important to Jefferson to not appear too regal, and the dinner parties were kept somewhat casual. In 1802, a Federalist senator from New Hampshire was meeting Jefferson at a dinner when "a tall high boned man" entered the room wearing "an old brown coat, red waistcoat, old corduroy small clothes, much soiled—woolen hose—& slippers without heels." He added, "I thought this man was a servant; but was surprised by the announcement it was the President."

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Good day and welcome Thomas Jefferson Hour Podcast listeners and as always thank you for listening.
0:08.9	It's great to have you all we so appreciate you your questions your letters your criticisms
0:15.3	your whatever you send us is including the splendid gifts you send to me by the
0:20.0	way but we love it all and And this week, I named this topic, I love this topic,
0:25.7	Jefferson's dinner parties.
0:27.0	Yeah, and it was great fun, it always is fun. And again, there's that quote,
0:31.1	Jefferson to William Hamilton, April 22 22nd 1800 this should be on
0:34.5	coffee cups of bumper stickers I never considered a difference of opinion in
0:38.4	politics and religion in philosophy as cause for withdrawing from a friend.
0:44.0	And his daughter Martha said, with a little bit more snark,
0:48.0	my father never gave up a friend or an opinion.
0:51.0	I'm going to think about that.
0:54.0	What does she mean?
0:55.0	I guess she thought he had a little stubborn streak, which he did.
0:59.0	But his dinner parties, we didn't talk about one, which equally important and in some ways could have caused an international
1:06.7	Oh the Lafayette.
1:07.7	He's in France in 1789 Lafayette is part of the moderate faction in the French Revolution before things
1:17.8	went really wrong and he came to Jefferson and again all upset the way Hamilton had been and he said would you please have a
1:28.0	dinner party at your salon and I'd like to bring eight people. It's off the record. In a sense, we're going to deny that it ever happened.
1:38.0	But after the, I'm sure you'll serve a great meal. The meal, by the way, was made by James Hemings, the slave from
1:44.6	Motticello. After the meal, I'd like to have a roundtable discussion about where we
1:49.9	should head with the new French Constitution and what sort of a French
	...

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