Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power (2012)

Was Jefferson a great man or just one whose reputation was immeasurably enhanced by the need of Americans to turn their Founders into saints?

Little interests me more than the process of historiography – i.e., the study of historical writing, and the ways in which interpretations of the past change depending on the individual historian. Books about Jefferson provide a great opportunity to see historiography at work!

What historians choose to focus on regarding Jefferson has implications for our national identity, making biographies of him all the more significant. The determination of what to include about a Founder and how to interpret it not only reflects upon the legitimacy of the American experiment, but also on the continuing social and political order, given our valorizing of “the intent of the Founding Fathers.”

So history is not just a chronicle; it has ideological contours. It not only helps shape what we believe about ourselves, but reveals what we want to believe, and what we want to forget.

For those who want their idealized perceptions of the Founding Fathers left intact, this book is the perfect anodyne to the recent spate of critical works about Jefferson.

Meacham takes great pains to present Jefferson as positively as possible, and in the event of overwhelming facts to the contrary, he has three different approaches to impose his view of Jefferson on the reader. When Meacham is recounting what amounts to dirty tricks, underhandedness, manipulation, and hypocrisy (most of which Jefferson put up Madison and others to doing rather than exposing his own role), Meacham either pleads the different standards of Jefferson’s times, or simply redefines what Jefferson did as “practical” or “adaptable” or “savvy” or even “wise” (a move that Yale History Professor Marci Shore has referred to in a different context as "the teleological deceptions of retrospect"). Most often, however, Meacham simply omits less savory aspects of Jefferson’s behavior.

Leaving out some events and selecting others creates a narrow shadowbox revealing only what the box’s creator wants you to see. No other voices challenge the dominant narrative. Whether consciously or not, the images of the particular history are filtered and focused to impose one version of the past over another.

Consider these facts:

In 1769 Jefferson paid for a very detailed ad in the Virginia Gazette for the capture and return of a runaway mulatto slave. The next year, as a young lawyer, Jefferson defended a mulatto slave who was suing for his freedom. Jefferson argued, “under the law of nature, we are all born free.” (At this time, he owned more than 20 slaves.)

Meanwhile, in 1776, while writing the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson had 83 slaves. This was a low number for him: from 1774 to 1826, he had around 200 slaves at any one time, owning more than 600 people during his lifetime. Most famously, he used one of them as his concubine, starting up with the not-yet-16 year old Sally Hemings when he was 46. She was almost continuously pregnant when he was in town. When she first became pregnant, while acting as a chaperone for Jefferson’s daughter in France, and where she would have had the opportunity to stay there and be free, Jefferson “bribed” her to come back to Virginia (as his slave) by promising that their children could be set free from slavery at age 21! Ugh. Just ugh! [Jefferson did keep his word to some extent, and set Sally’s children free in his will, although by then they were considerably older than age 21. Sally was not set free by the will. It is thought he gave oral instructions to his family, but there is no proof. Eight years after Jefferson died, his legitimate daughter Martha allowed Sally to leave.]

Meacham describes a number of times when the younger Jefferson indeed tried to get anti-slavery measures passed but could not. He avers that Jefferson came to believe abolition was politically lethal; he was not, therefore, willing to risk his popularity for what was "a lost cause". Nevertheless, Jefferson not once made a move to free his own slaves, so how sincere was he really? John and Abigail Adams refused to have slaves; George Washington arranged to have his slaves freed after he and his wife died; and in 1796, one of Jefferson’s relatives, the statesman and eminent scholar George Tucker (who wrote a new edition of Blackstone's Commentaries that was considered a valuable reference work for many American lawyers and law students in the early 19th century), wrote and published the pamphlet "A Dissertation on Slavery: With A Proposal for the Gradual Abolition of It in the State of Virginia." In short, it wasn’t as if no one else in Jefferson’s time opted for and acted upon a moral course of action.

It seems clear that Jefferson’s extravagant tastes and sense of entitlement prevented him from having such a large contingent of paid servants on the payroll. He had expensive taste in imported wines, foodstuffs, furniture, linens, silver, paintings, books, and entertainment. He did not care to live without these things, even if it meant that a large number of people had to live in slavery. Further, he was not above instructing his overseer to punish slaves who were not deemed to be adequately productive. The historian Henry Wiencek recounts a story (totally omitted by Meacham), describing how Monticello’s young black boys, “the small ones,” age 10, 11 or 12, were whipped to get them to work harder in Jefferson’s nail factory, the profits of which paid the mansion’s grocery bills. Some slaves, Jefferson wrote, “require a vigour of discipline to make them do reasonable work.”

Nor does Meacham spend time on Jefferson’s detailed calculations about how much money he could make from the “propagation” of black slaves (a 4 percent profit every year, he noted). He boasted of it to George Washington.

Last but not least, Jefferson wrote about blacks as being “racially inferior“ and “as incapable as children.” He thought that even if slaves were freed, they should all be deported (except, we presume, for Sally, who was, apparently, capable of at least one thing not commonly considered to be "childlike".)

Meacham does, at the very end, give consideration to the contradiction of Jefferson’s beliefs about freedom for all of mankind and his continued investment in the institution of slavery, but doesn’t really resolve these contradictions, other to say that because Jefferson couldn’t push abolition through, “[h]e gave up.” Meacham did not convince me on that score, especially because when Jefferson wanted anything else done, he took every conceivable step, whether through pressure, mud-slinging, reputation-destroying, or anything else, to achieve his aims.

Another big issue Meacham elides over is the hypocritical way in which Jefferson became apoplectic over what he considered the “monarchical” tendencies of Washington, Adams, Hamilton, and other Federalists. Yet Jefferson’s presidency pushed the limits of a strong executive in ways never before done so, and in ways that Jefferson would have considered anathema if someone else had made those moves. The Louisiana purchase, for example, was clearly unconstitutional – even Jefferson admitted it. The embargo on sending goods to Great Britain was also a curtailment of liberty and an extension of the reach of the federal government that would have had Jefferson crying treason if his predecessors had engaged in these acts. Meacham admits to this, but contends that Jefferson’s usurpations of power showed how "brilliantly" he could remold his ideology when “the future of the country” was at stake.

And on and on….

Nevertheless, Jefferson endures, as Meacham avers. He holds that Jefferson passes the fundamental test of leadership:

"Despite all his shortcomings and all the inevitable disappointments and mistakes and drams deferred, he left America, and the world, in a better place than it had been when he first entered the area of public life.”

I would agree that the idea of Jefferson, and more precisely, the ideals of Jefferson, endure, and have changed the nation for the better. As Meacham observes:

"All the ... Jeffersons – the emblematic ones, the metaphorical ones, the ones different generations and differing partisans interpret and invent, seeking inspiration from his example and sanction from his name – all these Jeffersons tell us more about ourselves than they do about the man himself.”

The ideals Jefferson inscribed into the Declaration of Independence gave us a bridge from what was (and is) to what we wanted (and still want) to be. Although "we the people" only referred to some of the people, the bridge was in place: now we could aspire to reach the other side.

Certainly his contributions to the cause of freedom from and of religion cannot be denied. (This was a cause surely as emotionally fraught as slavery, albeit without the same economic repercussions. Yet Jefferson worked tirelessly to ensure that America would be a country that was based on a separation of church and state.) As for the man himself, I wish we could acknowledge the great uses to which he has been put, without having to deify him in the process.

Evaluation: I listened to the audio version of this book, unabridged on 15 compact discs. Edward Herrmann did a very good job at narrating, and the text (in spite of my complaints about its selectivity) never lost my interest. I would only caution that, as with any historical interpretation, it is advisable to read other accounts along with it. ( )

Much to the chagrin of some of my more loyal followers, I don’t read a lot of non-fiction. I like the idea of non-fiction, but unfortunately, for me, it is too rarely done really well. I am a storyteller and a lover of stories, reading a book that feels like a textbook, a research paper, or a treatise on someone’s personal opinions (often supported by their own personal interpretation of facts) just doesn’t work for me. In this week’s top ten I talked about 1776 by David McCullough and how I didn’t like it as much as I had hoped. I wanted to be told the story of 1776, I did not want to read a research paper on 1776, and while it was a well-written and well-researched book, it still felt like a research paper to me. Being a fan of Thomas Jefferson (how can you not like a guy who donates 47,000 books to the Library of Congress?), I approached reading this book with some trepidation – I did not want to read a textbook about Jefferson, I wanted to be told his story, and I was not disappointed.
“I cannot live without books.” – Thomas Jefferson

Jon Meacham tells the story of Thomas Jefferson brilliantly; while it is well-researched it is never dry, engrossing you in the world, ideas, and actions of this amazing and complex man. Through his time as a lawyer, author of the Declaration of Independence, governor of Virginia, minister to France, Secretary of State, Vice President, and President Jefferson understood the delicate balance between philosophy and politics, that big dreams do not become reality on their own. He knew how to work “the system” to achieve his desired ends, working through both his friends and enemies to achieve his vision for the country.
“He dreamed big but understood that dreams become reality only when their champions are strong enough and wily enough to bend history to their purposes.”

Meacham brings forth the complexity of the man, the conflict that sometimes existed between his actions and the beliefs he expounded. In spite of these beliefs, Jefferson as a politician accepted and understood the realities of the offices he held, mastering the art of power to achieve the ends he desired.
“Our greatest leaders are neither dreamers nor dictators: They are, like Jefferson, those who articulate national aspirations yet master the mechanics of influence and know when to depart from dogma.”

As a person, Jefferson was well-educated and well-read, interesting and interested in numerous subjects, congenial and kind, a lover of all things French, devoted to his family, friends, and country. However, Jefferson is certainly not portrayed as flawless, his inability to manage his personal finances, the contradictions between his words and his actions, his hypocrisy on the issue of slavery, are all addressed and show the many sides of this complex and fascinating figure. Regardless of his flaws, he ultimately worked tirelessly to leave the world better. He is a man who I would’ve liked to meet, to share a glass of his French wine, to sit and discuss philosophy and art and science and politics, leaving more enlightened and inspired for my time with him.

See more on my blog at www.watchingthewords.com! ( )

Thomas Jefferson has always fascinated me more than any other politician and most other men. He was an inventor, an avid reader, and a brilliant writer. He started a college, helped America gain independence and then served as the Vice President and then President. He loved wine, travel (especially to France) and staying active. He built an incredible home and gardens. He was a good friend and host, a loyal husband and loving father and grandfather.

Meacham paints Jefferson’s life in broad strokes. From his early days when he become the man of the house after losing his father at the tender age of 14; to his days as President when our country doubled in size thanks to the Louisiana Purchase.

Jefferson’s wife died young after bearing him too many children too quickly. Though he was only in his 30s, he made a promise never to remarry, which he kept. Later he had a relationship that lasted for decades with a slave, Sally Hemings, who was actually his wife’s half sister.

One thing I learned from the book is that American politics have changed very little in the past 200 years. There were people that thought America was going to hell because Jefferson was elected. Others thought that Adams would be its downfall. There always seems to be someone willing to do something dirty for politics and others who are truly trying to further the interests of the country as a whole. It’s good to have some perspective, things are rarely as bad as we think.

BOTTOM LINE: This is such a well-done biography. It’s fair and honest. It doesn’t shy away from tough issues, but it doesn’t needlessly focus on them. It is a portrait of the life of an incredible man. The only reason this is a 4.5 instead of a 5 is because I have never felt the desire to re-read a biography. I only give 5 stars to books I know I will re-read.

“He loved… ‘the ineffable luxury of being the owner of my own time.’”

Jefferson’s Musing on Libraries:

“I have often thought that nothing would do more extensive good at small expense than the establishment of a small circulating library in every county; to consist of a few well-chosen books to be leant to the people of the county under such regulations as would secure their safe return in due time.”

Wonderful Advice from Jefferson:

1) Never put off to tomorrow what you can do today.
2) Never trouble another with what you can do yourself.
3) Never spend your money before you have it.
4) Never buy a thing you do not want, because it is cheap, it will be dear to you.
5) Take care of your cents: Dollars will take care of themselves.
6) Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst and cold.
7) We never repent of having eaten too little.
8) Nothing is troublesome that one does willingly.
9) How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened.
10) Take things always by their smooth handle.
11) Think as you please, and so let others, and you will have no disputes.
12) When angry, count 10, before you speak; if very angry, 100. ( )

Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, by John Meacham, is the latest book I have read about Jefferson and the early Republic. Taking even a slightly opposing view when critiquing a work of historical scholarship can be kind of intimidating when the back flap boasts glowing reviews from the likes of Doris Kearns Goodwin, Walter Isaacson, Stacy Schiff and Michael Beschloss, but while I found it a very well-written and often insightful biography, I would hardly place it on the superlative shelf that others assign it.
In his notes at the conclusion of the book, Meacham reveals that he does not believe it possible to write a comprehensive, single-volume book about Jefferson and his era, and in this he may be right. Instead, Meacham, a highly acclaimed Pulitzer Prize winning historian, decides to focus on how Jefferson wields power, usually quite successfully, throughout his career, from delegate to the Continental Congress and author of the Declaration of Independence, as Virginia Governor, as Ambassador to France, as member of the first Washington Administration, as founder of the first real political party, as Vice President while leading the opposition, as President of the United States, and later as (to borrow from a book title from his most eminent biographer, Dumas Malone) “the Sage of Monticello,” who manages in “retirement” among other accomplishments to found a great university. What a life! And except for his stint as governor and perhaps his second term as president, much of what he achieves on the public stage is astonishing in its scope and in its lasting echo to our own day. On the private side, there is the grief-stricken Jefferson who loses his wife and barely recovers from that loss, and sees all but one of his children from that marriage go to the grave prematurely while he endures to very old age. There is also the side story of his relationship with Sally Hemings and the family he makes with her. Jefferson is portrayed as a master of political power; we see a man who can be conniving and less than loyal in order to achieve his aims. And Jefferson, as Meacham emphasizes, usually gets what he wants.
Yet, in the end, Meacham acts mostly as an apologist for Jefferson, even when others have underscored the errors of his public life and the shortcomings of his private one. It is clear that Meacham likes his so subject so much that he can do almost no wrong. Even in areas where he calls Jefferson to task for holding the children of Sally Hemings as slaves, for example, or with regard to his whole position on the peculiar institution that he more than once abhors as a great evil in rhetoric yet upholds via policy and ideology. He makes excuses for Jefferson as Revolutionary War governor who fled from British troops, and as second-term President who in his stubbornness to not set the nascent United States on the same side as Britain against the global threat of Napoleon, nearly bankrupted the country with his ineffectual embargo born out of a policy of impossible neutrality. It is not that a biographer cannot take these positions in favor of his subject, but when the favor is too consistent, the credibility of the biography is threatened in my opinion.
To his credit, the book has a strong scholarly foundation. There are over 150 pages of end-notes, so it is clear that Meacham did his homework. The book is also generously populated with quotations from Jefferson and his peers. Too generously in my view. These days, grad students are routinely admonished for an excessive use of direct quotes and a failure to paraphrase and put a paragraph into their own words. (Perhaps the late emphasis on plagiarism has worked against this in academic writing, but I cannot see how paraphrasing primary sources could represent such a threat.) Meacham is obviously of another mind. The problem I have with this is that too many quotations, especially long ones, routinely break the flow of the writing. I also find many of the ones on these pages superfluous. Is a paragraph-long direct quote from an English traveler describing Jefferson’s conversation skills (p.228) requisite? Or several lines from a granddaughter (p.451) detailing how he doted upon them?
I should also add that this is hardly a book for someone not already quite familiar with the life of Jefferson, the cast of characters he walked among or the events of his time. The text assumes the reader knows these well, so I would not recommend this to someone unfamiliar in this regard. As I have read deeply previously in these arenas, I do not judge this a fault, but I merely point it out to those who might pick this as their first biography of Jefferson.
I have to admit a personal sometimes-grudging admiration for Jefferson, warts and all. And there are plenty of warts. He was right about lots of things, especially religious freedom and the essential ideals of the republic, but he was also dead wrong about a weak central government acting upon the engine of the power of states’ rights – which he was the first to abandon as POTUS even as he loudly clung to the ideology of the notion that it is garbed in. And he perhaps failed most manifestly in upholding the institution of slavery that he also once loudly clamored against. I have read a lot about Jefferson, and my favorite read remains American Sphinx by Joseph Ellis, which demonstrates quite convincingly in my view that Jefferson was capable of daily maintaining two competing ideologies in his head simultaneously, while ever employing the one that was most effectual in the dynamics of real world situations. If you are a student of Jefferson, by all means reads the Meacham book; you won’t be sorry. But perhaps you will also need to read the Ellis book to explain why he was so successful with his “art of power.” ( )

Well written bio. Many quotes from Jefferson's time that needed to be read again to understand. The book gave me a different view of the man than I had held before. Worthwhile read, although I slogged thro a lot of it. ( )