#1461 Circular to the Heads of Departments

Listening to America

Society & Culture, History

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 21 September 2021

⏱️ 55 minutes

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Summary

We speak with President Jefferson about his "Circular to the Heads of Departments," a memo he wrote dated November 6, 1801 which provides insight into Jefferson's governing style. He refers to his cabinet as one of the most harmonious in history, and he closes his letter by writing, "If I had the Universe to choose from, I could not change one of my associates to my better satisfaction."

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Mentioned on this episode: "Circular to the Heads of Departments", Jeffersonians in Power: The Rhetoric of Opposition Meets the Realities of Governing

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Good day, Thomas Jefferson, our podcast listeners. We thank you so much for taking time to listen,
0:06.5	and we so appreciate it. If you're interested in finding out more about the Thomas Jefferson
0:12.2	hour, go to Jeffersonhour.com. You can support the show. You can find out all about
0:18.0	Clay's upcoming cultural tours, his online courses. I know you have one coming up for the
0:23.9	Constitution. You have a John Steinbeck tour coming up, and lastly, you can support the show,
0:30.4	which we so appreciate it. This week, it was a very interesting conversation. We spoke with Jefferson
0:37.2	starting on the harmony of his cabinet, which is something I've heard about from you before, Clay,
0:43.9	but this circular to his departments praising his cabinet heads was something I had not read before.
0:50.9	He did really have one of the great and most harmonious cabinets in American history. Of course,
0:56.4	he was a harmony obsessive. That's just not a throwaway sentence. He could not live without
1:01.9	harmony. He shrank from conflict. It makes him a terrible politician because politics is conflict.
1:09.2	Politics is a way of settling extremely serious disputes without blood. When it
1:15.9	ripples over into blood as it did on January 6, 2021, that's not politics anymore. That's
1:21.6	insurrection or that's a riot. But Jefferson was a harmony devotee. He needed it. He was soft
1:29.8	spoken. He was understated. He was invariably well-mannered and civil. He made people feel special.
1:37.6	He didn't take advantage. He didn't do cheap shots. He didn't undermine people. He treated
1:44.0	everyone with agency and respect, which is what I love about Jefferson. I'll tell you why I love
1:48.8	this show. These shows are spontaneous. They're unscripted, as I'm sure everyone can appreciate.
1:55.0	We let them go in the direction they go. The programs I like best are ones like today were at some
1:59.7	point. You wind me up and I try to explain the mystery of Thomas Jefferson because I still don't
2:05.1	know David after 30 some years. We wrestle with it to try to make sense of this man and others,
2:12.8	of course. I love that. When you know when you do it, I don't know how you do it,
	...

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