Clay Jenkinson is the nation's leading first person interpreter of Thomas Jefferson.

He's the author of several books and he is the leader of both national and international

cultural tours.

Thomas Jefferson was one of the most remarkable men of American history.

He could tie an artery, dance the minuet, read Homer and Plato in the original Greek, invent

a revolutionary plow, communicate respectfully with farmers, scientists, free thinkers, federalists

and republicans.

He wrote the Declaration of Independence, the Virginia Statute for Religious Liberty, two

of his most notable achievements of his first term as president were the purchase of the

Louisiana Territory in 1803 and his support of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Thomas Jefferson was a revolutionary and a nation builder.

So at this point, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce to you America's

third president, Thomas Jefferson.

Thank you so much for inviting me to come speak with you today.

It's a real honor to be here in Radford in the Blue Ridge Mountains and to be at Radford

University and I hope as you make your own decisions about higher education that you

will consider coming to this university.

There was only one college in Virginia when I went to college.

It was the college of William and Mary down in Williamsburg and so I went there at about

the age of 17, just under 17 and spent a couple of years there and it changed my life.

I met a professor there by the name of William Small.

He was the most extraordinary intellectual that I had ever met and he encouraged me to

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