Good Day Citizens and Welcome to What Would Jefferson Do, our weekly opportunity to discuss

current American events with President Thomas Jefferson, who is seated across from

me now. Good day to you Mr Jefferson.

Good day to you, Citizen. Mr Jefferson, there are troubled times in this our

Happy Republic. I've just recently witnessed citizens in the streets exhibiting

violence against one another. I know you live through some very tumultuous times in American history.

How do we deal with this, sir?

I think the American people are overwhelmingly good and decent. We do get stirred up from time to time by

whatever is passing in the world. There are demagogues, there always have been and

always will be who try to stir the waters and make more of

certain situations than they can bear. But on the whole there's an equilibrium at

the center of American life and that equilibrium re-establishes itself after a period of chaos.

For example, when the French Revolution spilled over onto our shores, there was widespread anxiety

in this country. There were street marches, people were being

burned in effigy. John Adams felt that there might actually be an armed

revolution and even a reign of terror in the United States and yet a few years later that all seemed like a foolish fantasy and even John

Adams was embarrassed by what he had done by way of overreaction.

During the quasi war in 1798,

we passed the alien and sedition laws,

which were palpably in violation of the Bill of Rights,

and it seemed like a serious crisis to the federalists but just four

or five years later we realized that we had overreacted but the system had

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