Uncovering the Legacy of Thomas Jefferson: Jon Meacham's Insightful Exploration of Power

Robin Ward: Writing if the highest quality!

United Kingdom on Sep 07, 2023

Amazon Kunde: Einfühlsam und erfrischend

Germany on Aug 21, 2023

Mrs. Sarah Catrin Morgan: Jon Meacham's "Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power" is an eminently interesting, exciting read. Meacham boils down Jefferson's life into nine individual sections, the longest naturally being "The President of the United States, 1801-1809." It's a neat - almost too neat - way of dividing the book into easily digestible sections. I take issue with just two aspects of the book: (a) Meacham's writing style is journalistic, not surprisingly given his past career, but at times journalistic to the point of informality; and (b) Meacham, in my opinion, whilst not blind to Jefferson's faults, could have done with writing more extensively on Jefferson's weaknesses. Overall, however, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to other interested in finding out more about Jefferson, a great man whose failings were equally as great as his successes.

United Kingdom on Aug 16, 2019

Laura: Writing: 5 Coverage: 5

An insightful and well-written biography about one of the Founding Fathers and the author of our Declaration of Independence. Jefferson didn’t fit the traditional view of a “hero.” He was an intellectual with refined tastes and while he played a huge role in the establishment of the new country, he played a small, and often maligned, role in the revolutionary war itself.

His politics focussed unwaveringly on liberty — he felt that a personal liberty would create a sense of free inquiry that would help usher in “the reign of reason” and pave the way to a “war-free world of open markets.” He applied this focus on liberty and free inquiry to everything — including religion. We have him to thank in large part for the separation of church and state that formed part of the country’s foundation. While he professed a deep belief in God, he stood firm against the establishment of religion. He hoped that “subjecting religious sensibilities to free inquiry would transform faith from a source of contention into a force for good.”

When he finally became president, he said he would spend his presidential years “pursuing...

United States on Aug 11, 2018

Arrakis: Jefferson est un des pères fondateurs de la nation américaine les plus importants : le second après Washington lui-même. Révolutionnaire passionné, républicain convaincu, idéaliste et pragmatique, en devenant le troisième président des USA, il oriente définitivement son système politique vers une démocratie représentative antimonarchique. Homme d'une extraordinaire culture intellectuelle et scientifique, homme des Lumières, il défend la séparation claire de l'état et de la religion. Président il met en place l'expédition de Lewis et Clarke qui part explorer l'ouest américain, rachète la Louisiane (qui comprend alors une part énorme de l'Amérique intérieure) et pose les bases d'une Amérique neutre sur le continent européen mais attentive à sa position dominante sur ses frontières. Il dessine ainsi nombres d'orientations politiques qui seront développées par ses successeurs. Jon Meacham aborde aussi l'ambiguïté de ses rapports à l'esclavage et à sa domestique Sally Hemings dont il a eu en toute probabilité plusieurs enfants. Cette difficulté pour un esprit brillant à faire face à ce problème majeur de la politique américaine annonce aussi les...

France on Aug 21, 2017

Rev. C. Bryant: Indeed, many sources contemporary with Jefferson call him a great man. Meacham, however, avoids writing a hagiography. Instead, he advances the thesis that Jefferson's genius was that he both sought great power and used it effectively. He does not gloss over Jefferson's failure as governor to protect Virginia from the Redcoats during the Revolution. Indeed, he was pursued into the mountains by the vicious Tarleton, a fictionalized version of whom appears in Mel Gibson's The Patriot. This, however, appears to be a momentary glitch against the entire sweep of Jefferson's career. Member of the colonial Virginia House of Burgesses, member of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence for the Continental Congress, long-serving minister to France (leaving only upon the storming of the Bastille in July, 1789), amateur scientist, accomplished linguist and friend of the classics, and, finally, only the second two-term President of the United States.

In that role, Jefferson cemented the nation's course. Contrary to the wishes of Adams, his predecessor, and other Federalists, the United States would not again become a part of the British Empire--much less being ruled...

United States on Oct 04, 2013

JWilsonLLB: We are brought up on 1776, the war of independence, and George Washington. All worth knowing about. But it didn't end there. Just because the colonies had their independence did not mean they knew what to do with it. For many years the dominant strand of opinion in America was that the president should be a king-like figure (maybe even just a king, full stop).

Jefferson is the chap who put a stop to that. He gave us the American system we more or less still have today. He started a dynasty of like-minded presidents and before very long his views - at first peripheral to the point of eccentricity - became the new norm. And still are. Well worth the read.

United Kingdom on Jan 21, 2013