President Thomas Jefferson

American History Hit

History Hit

America, History

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 31 August 2023

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, so how did it work out when he became the leader of this nation that he was so instrumental in founding?

For the third episode in our special series about the Presidents, we're exploring Jefferson's presidency. What challenges did he face during his time as President, and how did he mould the early years of the nation?

Don is joined for this episode by Professor Frank Cogliano, direct from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Frank is a Professor of American History at the University of Edinburgh.

Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Siobhan Dale. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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Transcript

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0:27.0	T's and C supply, D.C. people are gathered in their fineries to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
0:47.0	But more than 100 miles away in Virginia, at Monticello,
0:52.0	curtains made of Parisian silk are drawn in Thomas Jefferson's bedroom.
0:57.6	Sunshine still streams through the skylight though, softly illuminating the pastel blue walls and dark wood doors and furnishings.
1:07.0	Despite it being past noon on this very important day,
1:11.0	our nation's most revered founding father is still in his bed, in a wide
1:15.8	alcove between his bed chamber and his study, where his papers and communications are
1:20.8	piled up on a desk, dormant.
1:24.0	Thomas Jefferson is dying.
1:26.4	50 years to the day after his most famous document was first read in public, declaring
1:31.3	our nation's independence.
1:33.1	Oddly, remarkably, on this same day,
1:36.0	far away in New England, his rival,
1:38.6	his good friend and correspondent, John Adams,
1:41.3	is dying as well. It is the end of an era, the end of so much, but most simply, here in Virginia, it is the end of a life. For a statesman, a diplomat, a lawyer, an architect of a life for a statesman, a diplomat, a lawyer, an architect, an inventor, and a philosopher, and a president. You're Oh, All too will bear in mind this sacred principle that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable that the minority possess their equal rights
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