President George Washington

Mount Vernon 10th May 1786

The favourable terms in which you [Lafayette] speak of Mr Jefferson gives me great pleasure: he is a man of whom I early imbibed the highest opinion—I am as much pleased therefore to meet confirmations of my discernment in these matters, as I am mortified when I find myself mistaken.

New York Jan 21st 1790

I consider the successful Administration of the general Government as an object of almost infinite consequence to the present and future happiness of the Citizens of the United States. I consider the Office of Secretary for the Department of State as very important on many accts: and I know of no person, who, in my judgment, could better execute the Duties of it than yourself.

President John Adams

Auteuil August 27th 1784

He is an old Friend with whom I have often had Occasion to labour at many a knotty Problem, and in whose Abilities and Steadiness I always found great Cause to confide.

Quincy Summer 1811

I always loved Jefferson & still love him.

Quincy June 10, 1813

You may expect many more expostulations from one who has loved and esteemed you for Eight and thirty Years.

Quincy January 22, 1825

Our John [John Quincy Adams] has been too much worn to contend much longer with conflicting factions. I call him our John, because when you was at Cul de sac at Paris, he appeared to me to be almost as much your boy as mine, I have often speculated upon the consequences that would have ensued from my taking your advice, to send him to William and Mary College in Virginia for an Education.

Quincy April 19, 1825

I have lost your last letter to me, the most consolatory letter I ever received in my life, what would I not give for a copy of it—

Your friend to all eternity

John Adams

President James Madison

Montpellier, Feb 24, 1826.

You cannot look back to the long period of our private friendship & political harmony, with more affecting recollections than I do. If they are a source of pleasure to you, what ought they not to be to me? We cannot be deprived of the happy consciousness of the pure devotion to the public good with which we discharged the trusts committed to us. And I indulge a confidence that sufficient evidence will find its way to another generation, to ensure, after we are gone, whatever of justice may be withheld whilst we are here. The political horizon is already yielding in your case at least, the surest auguries of it. Wishing & hoping that you may yet live to increase the debt which our Country owes you, and to witness the increasing gratitude, which alone can pay it, I offer you the fullest return of affectionate assurances.

Montpellier, September, 1830.

In one of those scenes [in 1791], a dinner party at which we were both present, I recollect an incident now tho’ not perhaps adverted to then, which as it is characteristic of Mr. Jefferson, I will substitute for a more exact compliance with your request.

The new Constitution of the U. States having just been put into operation, forms of Government were the uppermost topics every where, more especially at a convivial board, and the question being started as to the best mode of providing the Executive chief, it was among other opinions, boldly advanced that a hereditary designation was preferable to any elective process that could be devised. At the close of an eloquent effusion against the agitations and animosities of a popular choice and in behalf of birth, as on the whole, affording even a better chance for a suitable head of the Government, Mr. Jefferson, with a smile remarked that he had heard of a university somewhere in which the Professorship of Mathematics was hereditary. The reply, received with acclamation, was a coup de grace to the Anti-Republican Heretic.

Montpr., April, 1831.

With Mr. Jefferson I was not acquainted till we met as members of the first Revolutionary Legislature of Virginia, in 1776. I had of course no personal knowledge of his early life. Of his public career, the records of his Country give ample information and of the general features of his character with much of his private habits, and of his peculiar opinions, his writings before the world to which additions are not improbable, are equally explanatory.

The obituary Eulogiums, multiplied by the Epoch & other coincidences of his death, are a field where some things not unworthy of notice may perhaps be gleaned. It may on the whole be truly said of him, that he was greatly eminent for the comprehensiveness & fertility of his genius, for the vast extent & rich variety of his acquirements; and particularly distinguished by the philosophic impress left on every subject which he touched.

Nor was he less distinguished for an early & uniform devotion to the cause of liberty, and systematic preference of a form of Govt. squared in the strictest degree to the equal rights of man. In the social & domestic spheres, he was a model of the virtues & manners which most adorn them.

President James Monroe

Washington July 5, 1815

With Mr Jefferson I had much friendly intercourse while in albemarle, and I am convincd of the interest which he takes in my welfare. The day he dined with us, he seemed anxious, that his disposition towards me should not be misunderstood, as he expressd such sentiments of my services, in the dept of war, to others, as left no doubt on that head. Heretofore he has been practic’d on by artful persons; but time & facts, the strongest of which has been my undeviating friendly deportment towards him, of which he has perhaps had more correct information of late, have put this in a true light. He is naturally frank & affectionate, and in my judgment, incapable of playing a double part. His enemies are never deceiv’d, by an improper confidence in his friendship. His whole family were kind to mine.

Charlestown May 2, 1819

In this place Mr. Jefferson was spoken of in reference to the acquisition of Louisiana. I spoke of him in terms, as strong as I could find, expressive of his extraordinary services to his country & great merit. Heretofore I could not find access to him but in connection with others. Of Genl. W. I could speak, because he stood on separate ground, and I could also speak of my immediate predecessor as such, but Mr. Jefferson was [hemm’d] in on both sides, and I could not touch him without censuring those who went before him. In this instance he stood alone, and I avail’d myself of the opportunity, to do him all possible justice, and disarm those who would turn him, or his name, against me, of the power of doing it with success. For generous acts there never can be self reproach; but in these cases, there has been exalted merit, for it is my candid opinion, that Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison have done more, since the establishment of the revolution (in which Genl. W. was preeminent) than any two persons on the continent. My great object is to bring the country together on just principles, and the course pursued, is I am satisfied, the most likely to succeed.

President John Quincy Adams

May 14, 1817

I am aware that by the experience of our history under the present constitution, Mr. Jefferson alone of our four Presidents has had the good fortune of a Cabinet harmonizing with each other and with him through the whole period of his administration. I know something of the difficulty of moving smoothly along with associates, equal in trust, justly confident of their abilities, disdainful of influence, yet eager to exercise it, impatient of control, and opposing real, stubborn resistance to surmises and phantoms of encroachment, and I see that in the nature of the thing an American President’s Cabinet must be composed of such materials.

June 21, 1822

When I see Mr. Jefferson, with the snows of fourscore winters upon his head and with all the claims of a life devoted to the service of his country and of mankind to the veneration of all, hunted in the face of evidence as a fraudulent peculator of a sum less than 1200 dollars by “a native of Virginia” with a malignity and pertinacity equal to but not surpassing the address and cunning of the accusation, I am willing to forget the charges equally false and equally base of the same native of Virginia against myself. That his charges against me are all as false as that against Mr. Jefferson I affirm, and have proved to the satisfaction of the Committee of Congress upon the expenditures in the Department of State.

January 4, 1824

In entertaining these sentiments it is certainly with all the regard and veneration due from me to Mr. Jefferson, as to one of the men to whom the nation owes its deepest debt of gratitude. I am charged by General Smyth with an attempt to ridicule Mr. Jefferson. An expression, distorted and misrepresented in the kennel newspapers of the present day, is the support which the General has for this accusation. Of that expression and of the cause from which it proceeded, I will not now speak. If the animosities of political contention are not to be eternal, it is time to consign that subject to silence. But I address you in the face of our common country, and I hope and trust this paper will pass under the eye of Mr. Jefferson himself.

July 7, 1826

There was a meeting of the members of the Administration, Mr. Southard having returned from his visit in Virginia. It was upon full consideration decided that there should be no proclamation upon the occasion of the decease of Mr. Jefferson; but I mentioned my opinion that it should be noticed in the next annual message to Congress; which was approved.

July 11, 1826

Executive Order

The General in Chief has received from the Department of War the following orders:

The President with deep regret announces to the Army that it has pleased the Disposer of All Human Events, in whose hands are the issues of life, to remove from the scene of earthly existence our illustrious and venerated fellow-citizen, Thomas Jefferson.

This dispensation of Divine Providence, afflicting to us, but the consummation of glory to him, occurred on the 4th of the present month--on the fiftieth anniversary of that Independence the Declaration of which, emanating from his mind, at once proclaimed the birth of a free nation and offered motives of hope and consolation to the whole family of man. Sharing in the grief which every heart must feel for so heavy and afflicting a public loss, and desirous to express his high sense of the vast debt of gratitude which is due to the virtues, talents, and ever-memorable services of the illustrious deceased, the President directs that funeral honors be paid to him at all the military stations, and that the officers of the Army wear crape on the left arm, by way of mourning, for six months.

Major-General Brown will give the necessary orders for carrying into effect the foregoing directions.

It has become the painful duty of the Secretary of War to announce to the Army the death of another distinguished and venerated citizen. John Adams departed this life on the 4th of this month. Like his compatriot Jefferson, he aided in drawing and ably supporting the Declaration of Independence. With a prophetic eye he looked through the impending difficulties of the Revolution and foretold with what demonstrations of joy the anniversary of the birth of American freedom would be hailed. He was permitted to behold the verification of his prophecy, and died, as did Jefferson, on the day of the jubilee.

A coincidence of circumstances so wonderful gives confidence to the belief that the patriotic efforts of these illustrious men were Heaven directed, and furnishes a new seal to the hope that the prosperity of these States is under the special protection of a kind Providence.

The Secretary of War directs that the same funeral honors be paid by the Army to the memory of the deceased as by the order of the 11th instant were directed to be paid to Thomas Jefferson, and the same token of mourning be worn.

Major-General Brown is charged with the execution of this order.

Never has it fallen to the lot of any commander to announce to an army such an event as now calls forth the mingled grief and astonishment of this Republic; never since History first wrote the record of time has one day thus mingled every triumphant with every tender emotion, and consecrated a nation's joy by blending it with the most sacred of sorrows. Yes, soldiers, in one day, almost in the same hour, have two of the Founders of the Republic, the Patriarchs of Liberty, closed their services to social man, after beholding them crowned with the richest and most unlimited success. United in their end as they had been in their highest aim, their toils completed, their hopes surpassed, their honors full, and the dearest wish of their bosoms gratified in death, they closed their eyes in patriot ecstasy, amidst the gratulations and thanksgivings of a people on all, on every individual, of whom they had conferred the best of all earthly benefits.

Such men need no trophies; they ask no splendid mausolea. We are their monuments; their mausolea is their country, and her growing prosperity the amaranthine wreath that Time shall place over their dust. Well may the Genius of the Republic mourn. If she turns her eyes in one direction, she beholds the hall where Jefferson wrote the charter of her rights; if in another, she sees the city where Adams kindled the fires of the Revolution. To no period of our history, to no department of our affairs, can she direct her views and not meet the multiplied memorials of her loss and of their glory.

At the grave of such men envy dies, and party animosity blushes while she quenches her fires. If Science and Philosophy lament their enthusiastic votary in the halls of Monticello, Philanthropy and Eloquence weep with no less reason in the retirement of Quincy. And when hereafter the stranger performing his pilgrimage to the land of freedom shall ask for the monument of Jefferson, his inquiring eye may be directed to the dome of that temple of learning, the university of his native State--the last labor of his untiring mind, the latest and the favorite gift of a patriot to his country.

Bereaved yet happy America! Mourning yet highly favored country! Too happy if every son whose loss shall demand thy tears can thus soothe thy sorrow by a legacy of fame.

The Army of the United States, devoted to the service of the country, and honoring all who are alike devoted, whether in the Cabinet or the field, will feel an honorable and a melancholy pride in obeying this order. Let the officers, then, wear the badge of mourning, the poor emblem of a sorrow which words can not express, but which freemen must ever feel while contemplating the graves of the venerated Fathers of the Republic.

Tuesday succeeding the arrival of this order at each military station shall be a day of rest.

The National flag shall wave at half-mast.

At early dawn thirteen guns shall be fired, and at intervals of thirty minutes between the rising and setting sun a single cannon will be discharged, and at the close of the day twenty-four rounds.

July 4, 1837

One lamentable evidence of deep degeneracy from the spirit of the Declaration of Independence is the countenance which has been occasionally given, in various parts of the Union, to this doctrine; but it is consolatory to know that, whenever it has been distinctly disclosed to the people, it has been rejected by them with pointed reprobation. It has, indeed, presented itself in its most malignant form in that portion of the Union the civil institutions of which are most infected by the gangrene of slavery. The inconsistency of the institution of domestic slavery with the principles of the Declaration of Independence was seen and lamented by all the Southern patriots of the Revolution; by no one with deeper and more unalterable conviction than by the author of the Declaration himself. No insincerity or hypocrisy can fairly be laid to their charge. Never, from their lips, was heard one syllable of attempt to justify the institution of slavery. They universally considered it as a reproach fastened upon them by the unnatural step-mother country; and they saw that, before the principles of the Declaration of Independence, slavery, in common with every other mode of oppression, was destined sooner or later to be banished from the earth. Such was the undoubting conviction of Jefferson to his dying day. In the memoir of his life, written at the age of seventy-seven, he gave to his countrymen the solemn and emphatic warning that the day was not distant when they must hear and adopt the general emancipation of their slaves. ‘Nothing is more certainly written,’ said he, ‘in the book of fate, than that these people are to be free.’

September 17, 1842

The utter and unqualified inconsistency of slavery, in any of its forms, with the principles of the North American Revolution, and the Declaration of our Independence, had so forcibly struck the Southern champions of our rights, that the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of slaves was a darling project of Thomas Jefferson from his first entrance into public life to the last years of his existence.

President Andrew Jackson

Washington City March 6th. 1825

Yesterday Mr Adams was inaugurated amidst a vast assemblage of citizens, having been escorted to the capitol with a pomp and ceremony of guns & drums not very consistent, in my humble opinion, with the character of the occasion. Twenty four years ago when Mr Jefferson was inducted into office no such machinery was called in to give solemnity to the occasion — he rode his own horse and hitched him him self to the enclosure. But it seems that times are changed — I hope it is not so with the principles that are to Characterise the administration of Justice and constitutional law. These in my fervent prayers for the prosperity and good of our country will remain unaltered, based upon the sovereignty of the people and adorned with no forms or ceremonies save those which their happiness and freedom shall command.

Nashville, July 26, 1826

I have been led here to make arrangements for paying the last respect due to the memory & manes of the sage of Monticello, the Father of Liberty, the patron of science, and the author of our declaration of Independence, who had the boldness by that instrument to declare to the despots of Europe in 1776, that we of right ought to be free, that all well organized governments are founded on the will of the people —established for their happiness and prosperity — This virtuous Patriot, Thos Jefferson is no more — he died on the 4th of July 10 minutes before one P.M. On yesterday when we met to make arrangements for this melancholy occasion the mail brought us the sad intelligence that another of the signers of the declaration of Independence was no more, that John Adams had departed this life also on the 4th of July at 6 o'clock P.M. Was well in the morning, heard the celebration, sickened at noon and died at 6 o'clock P.M. of the 4th inst. What a wonderful coincidence that the author and two signers of the declaration of Independence, two of the Ex-Presidents, should on the same day expire, a half a Century after that, that gave birth to a nation of freemen, and that Thos. Jefferson should have died the very hour of the day that the declaration of Independence was presented to and read in the Congress of 1776. Is this an omen that Divinity approbated the whole course of Mr. Jefferson and sent an angel down to take him from the earthly Tabernacle on this national Jubilee, at the same moment he had presented it to Congress and is the death of Mr. Adams a confirmation of the approbation of Divinity also, or is it an omen that his political example as President and adopted by his son, shall destroy this holy fabric created by the virtuous Jefferson.

President Martin Van Buren

Washington, May 29th, 1835

Thoroughly convinced that the overthrow of our present constitution and the consequent destruction of the confederacy which it binds together, would be the greatest sacrifice of human happiness and hopes that has ever been made at the shrine of personal ambition, I do not, hesitate to promise you, that every effort in my power, whether in public or private life, shall be made for their preservation. The father of his country, foreseeing this danger, warned us to cherish the union as the palladium of our safety; and the great exemplar of our political faith, Thomas Jefferson, has taught us, that to preserve that common sympathy between the states, out of which the union sprang, and which constitutes its surest foundation, we should exercise the powers which of right belong to the general government, in a spirit of moderation and brotherly love, and religiously abstain from the assumption of such as have not been delegated by the Constitution.

1854-1862

Earnestly engaged in a successful and lucrative practice, I had no desire to be a candidate for an elective office, nor did I become one until the Spring of 1812, when I was forced into that position by circumstances with which I could not deal differently. But from my boyhood I had been a zealous partisan, supporting with all my power the administrations of Jefferson and Madison…

Whilst this excitement was at its highest point I took a trip to Richmond, Virginia, and visited Spencer Roane whom I had never seen but long known, by reputation, as a hearty and bold Republican of the old School. I found him to my great regret on a bed of sickness, from which, although he lived some time, he never rose. But in all other respects he was the man I expected to meet — a root and branch Democrat, clear headed, honest hearted, and always able and ready to defend the right regardless of personal consequences. He caused his large form to be raised in his bed, and disregarding the remonstrances of his family he insisted in talking with me for several hours. He at once referred to the Albany Post Office Question, told me that he had read all the papers in the case and thought that we were perfectly right in the grounds we had assumed. He condemned in unqualified terms the course pursued by Mr. Monroe, spoke freely of past events in his career, and of his apprehensions that he would, if elected, be governed by the views he had avowed. Mr. Roane referred, with much earnestness, to the course of the Supreme Court, under the lead of Chief Justice Marshall, in undermining some of the most valuable clauses of the Constitution to support the pretensions of the Bank of the United States, and placed in my hands a series of papers upon the subject from the Richmond Enquirer, written by himself over the signature of Algernon Sidney. On taking my leave of him I referred to the manner in which he had arranged the busts of Jefferson, Madison and Monroe in his room, and said that if there had been anything of the courtier in his character he would have placed Mr. Monroe, he being the actual President, at the head instead of the foot. He replied with emphasis, "No ! No ! No man ranks before Tom Jefferson in my house ! They stand Sir, in the order of my confidence and of my affection.”…

They were wise and experienced men and knew that such a subject could not be trusted to professions or acts which would be open to different constructions, and could only be safely dealt with by such measures as must carry conviction to the most prejudiced minds because they went directly to the accomplishment of their object. From such considerations and from such sources issued the Act of July 1787 for the government of the North Western Territory. By this Memorable Act its author and supporters intended not only to provide effectually for the peace and safety of their beloved country, but to repel, as far as was in their power, the suspicion of their fidelity to the cause of freedom which their enemies had attempted to fix upon them. Whether we regard the source from which it originated, the support it received on its passage, or its efficiency in promoting the great object of its enactment, this Law deserves a place in our National Archives side by side with the Declaration of Independence and the Federal Constitution, At- tempts have been made to deprive Mr. Jefferson of the credit of this great measure, as there have been cavillers against every truth of history however firmly established. Nothing can be more certain than that it was to his master mind that the country is indebted for its conception, and to his perseverance in its support seconded by the Legislature of Virginia and the old Congress for its completion…

I firmly believe that if Mr. Jefferson had thought it practicable to acquire the territory and to obtain its admission as a State without such stipulations, he would have made the attempt. His whole course upon the subject of slavery warrants this opinion…

My feelings were of a very different character. My earliest political recollections were those of the day when I exulted at the election of Mr. Jefferson, as the triumph of a good cause over an Administration and Party, who were as I thought subverting the principles upon which the Revolution was founded and fastening upon the Country a system which tho' different in form was nevertheless animated by a policy in the acquisition and use of political power akin to that which our ancestors had overthrown. I had ever since regarded the continued success of Mr. Jefferson's policy as the result of the superiority of the principles he introduced into the administration of the Government over those of his predecessor, and was sincerely desirous that they should continue to prevail in the Federal Councils…

On the next and subsequent days, leaving the Governor to be entertained by our host's grand-daughter, an accomplished and very agreeable young lady, now Mrs. Coolidge, of Boston, (whose future husband paid his first visit to her while we were at Monticello) we employed our mornings in drives about the neighbourhood, during which it may well be imagined with how much satisfaction I listened to Mr. Jefferson's conversation. His imposing appearance as he sat uncovered — never wearing his hat except when he left the carriage and often not then — and the earnest and impressive manner in which he spoke of men and things, are yet as fresh in my recollection as if they were experiences of yesterday. I have often reproached myself for having omitted to make memoranda of his original and always forcible observations and never more than at the present moment. Uppermost in my mind is the recollection of his exemption from the slightest remains, of party or personal prejudice against those from whom he had differed during the stormy period of his public life. Those who like myself had an opportunity to witness his remarkable freedom from the common reproach of political differences would find it difficult to doubt the sincerity of the liberal views he expressed in his Inaugural Address in regard to parties and partisan contests…

I derived the highest gratification from observing that [Mr. Jefferson’s] devotion to the public interest, tho' an octogenarian and oppressed by private griefs, was as ardent as it had been in his palmiest days. Standing upon the very brink of the grave, and forever excluded from any interest in the management of public concerns that was not common to all his fellow citizens, he seemed never to tire in his review of the past and in explanations of the grounds of his apprehensions for the future, both obviously for my benefit. In relation to himself he was very reserved — taking only the slightest allowable notice of his agency in the transactions of which he spoke. Happening to notice a volume in his library labelled curtly and emphatically — "Libels" — I opened it and found its contents to consist entirely of articles abusive of himself, cut out of the Newspapers; and shewing it to him he laughed heartily over the brochure and said that it had been his good fortune thro' life to be, in an unusual degree, indifferent to the groundless attacks to which public men were exposed. My inquiries in regard to individuals who had been prominent actors on the political stage in his day, were naturally as frequent as was consistent with propriety, and his replies were prompt and made with apparent sincerity and absolute fairness. Of Gen. Washington and of his memory he invariable spoke with undisguised regard and reverence…

Observing that in describing party movements he almost always said 'The republicans" pursued this course, and "Hamilton" that — not naming the federalists as a party, except by the designation of a sole representative, I brought this peculiarity to his attention. He said it was a habit that he had fallen into at an early period from regarding almost every party demonstration during the administrations preceding his own, as coming directly, or indirectly from Hamilton. He spoke of him frequently and always without prejudice or ill will, regarding him as a man of generous feelings and sincere in his political opinions. In answer to my question whether Hamilton participated in some step that he condemned, he replied — "No ! He was above such things !" His political principles Mr. Jefferson condemned without reserve, save only their sincerity, regarding them in their tendency and effects as more anti-republican than those of any of his contemporaries…

Those better regulated minds, however, whose gratification on reaching that high office is mainly derived from the consciousness that their countrymen have deemed them worthy of it and from the hope that they may be able to justify that confidence and to discharge its duties so as to promote the public good, will save themselves from great disappointments by postponing all thoughts of individual enjoyment to the completion of their labors. If those whose sense of duty and whose dispositions are of the character which alone can fit them for that station look to secure much personal gratification while swaying the rod of power they will find in that as in all other human calculations and plans "begun on earth below,'' that
”The ample proposition that hope makes
Fails in the promised largeness.”
At the very head of their disappointments will stand those inseparable from the distribution of patronage, that power so dazzling to the expectant dispenser, apparently so easily performed and so fruitful of reciprocal gratification. Whatever hopes they may indulge that their cases will prove an exception to the general rule they will find, in the end, their own experience truly described by Mr. Jefferson when he said that the two happiest days of his life were those of his entrance upon his office and of his surrender of it. The truth of the matter may be stated in a word: whilst to have been deemed worthy by a majority of the People of the United States to fill the office of Chief Magistrate of the Republic is an honor which ought to satisfy the aspirations of the most ambitious citizen, the period of his actual possession of its powers and performance of its duties is and must, from the nature of things, always be, to a right minded man one of toilsome and anxious probation.

President William Henry Harrison

March 4, 1841

I proceed to state in as summary a manner as I can my opinion of the sources of the evils which have been so extensively complained of and the correctives which may be applied. Some of the former are unquestionably to be found in the defects of the Constitution; others, in my judgment, are attributable to a misconstruction of some of its provisions. Of the former is the eligibility of the same individual to a second term of the Presidency. The sagacious mind of Mr. Jefferson early saw and lamented this error, and attempts have been made, hitherto without success, to apply the amendatory power of the States to its correction…

The influence of the Executive in controlling the freedom of the elective franchise through the medium of the public officers can be effectually checked by renewing the prohibition published by Mr. Jefferson forbidding their interference in elections further than giving their own votes, and their own independence secured by an assurance of perfect immunity in exercising this sacred privilege of freemen under the dictates of their own unbiased judgments…

All the influence that I possess shall be exerted to prevent the formation at least of an Executive party in the halls of the legislative body. I wish for the support of no member of that body to any measure of mine that does not satisfy his judgment and his sense of duty to those from whom he holds his appointment, nor any confidence in advance from the people but that asked for by Mr. Jefferson, "to give firmness and effect to the legal administration of their affairs."

President John Tyler

July 11, 1826

Why this numerous assemblage; this solemn and melancholy procession; these habiliments of woe? Do they betoken the fall of some mighty autocrat, of some imperial master who hath “bestrid the earth like a Colossus” and whose remains are followed to the grave by the tools and minions of his power? Are they the tokens of a ceremonious woe, a mere mockery of feeling? Or are they the spontaneous offerings of gratitude and love? What mighty man has fallen in Israel, and why has Virginia clothed herself in mourning? The tolling of yon dismal bell, and the loud but solemn discharge of artillery, hath announced to the nation the melancholy tidings — THOMAS JEFFERSON no longer lives! That glorious orb which has for so many years given light to our footsteps has set in death. The patriot, the statesman, the philosopher, the philanthropist, has sunk into the grave. Virginia mourns over his remains, and her harp is hung upon the willows.

Why need I say more? There is a language in this spectacle which speaks more eloquence than tongue can utter. This is the testimony of a well-spent life; the tribute of a nation's gratitude. Look on this sight, ye rulers of the earth, and learn from it lessons of wisdom. Ye ambitious and untamed spirits, who seek the attainment of glory by a scaffolding formed of human suffering, behold a people in tears over the funeral, bier of their benefactor; and if true glory be your object, profit by this example. In pronouncing the eulogy of the dead, my countrymen, I have no blood stained banners to present; no battles to recount; no sword or helmet to deposit on his hearse. I have to entwine a civic wreath which philosophy has woven and patriotism hallowed. The achievements of the warrior in the field attract the attention of mankind, and fasten on the memory, while the labors of the civilian too often pass unnoted and unknown. But not so with that man whose death we this day mourn. The results of his policy are exhibited in all around. Although his sun has sunk below the horizon of this world, yet hath it left a train of light, which shall never be extinguished.

At the commencement of his successful career, he manifested the same devotion to the rights of man which he evinced in all his after life. At an early day he so distinguished himself as the firm and fearless asserter of the rights of colonial America, as to draw upon him the frown of the royal governor, and had already anticipated the occurrence of the period when the colonies should be elevated to the condition of free, sovereign, and independent States. Having drawn his principles from the fountains of a pure philosophy, he was prepared to assail the slavish doctrine that man was incapable of self-government, and to aid in building up on its overthrow that happy system under which it is our destiny to live.

On the coming of that tremendous storm, which for eight years desolated our country, Mr. Jefferson hesitated not, halted not. Born to rich inheritance, destined to the attainment of high distinction under the regal government, courted by the aristocracy of the land, he adventured, with the single motive of advancing the cause of his country and of human freedom, into that perilous contest, throwing into the scale his life and fortune, as if of no value. The devoted friend of man, he had studied his rights in the great volume of nature, and saw with rapture the era at hand when those rights should be proclaimed, and the world aroused from the slumber of centuries. The season was approaching for the extension of the empire of reason and philosophy, and the disciple of Locke and Sidney rejoiced at its approach. Among his fellow-laborers, — those devoted champions of liberty, — those brilliant lights which shall forever burn, he stood conspicuous.

But how transcendently bright was that halo of glory by which he was surrounded on the fourth of July, 1776! Oh, day ever precious in the recollections of freemen! now rendered doubly so by the recollection that it was the birthday of a nation, and the last of him who had conferred on it immortality. Yes, illustrious man, it was given thee to live until the advent of a nation's jubilee. Thy disembodied spirit was then upborne by the blessings of ten millions of freemen, and the day and hour of thy renown was the day and hour of thy dissolution. How inseparable is now the connection between that glorious epoch and this distinguished citizen!

Does there not seem to have been an especial providence in his death? The sun of that day rose upon him, and the roar of artillery and the hosannas of a nation sounded into his ears the assurances of his immortality. So precious a life required a death so glorious. Who now shall set limits to his fame? On the annual recurrence of that glorious day, when with pious ardor millions yet unborn shall breathe the sentiments contained in the celebrated Declaration of Independence, — when the fires of liberty shall be kindled on every hill and shall blaze in every vale, shall not the name of Jefferson be pronounced by every lip and written on every heart? Shall not the rejoicing of that day, and the recollection of his death, cause the smile to chase away the tear, and the tear to becloud the smile?

But not to the future millions of these happy States shall his fame be confined. That celebrated state paper will be found wherever is found the abode of civilized man. Sounded in the ears of tyrants, they shall tremble on their thrones, while man, so long the victim of oppression, awakes from the sleep of ages and bursts his chains. The day is rapidly approaching, a prophetic tongue has pronounced it "to some nations sooner, to others later, but finally to all," when it will be made manifest "that the mass of mankind have not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favored few booted and spurred ready to ride them legitimately, by the grace of God." Already has this truth aroused the one-half of this continent from the lethargy in which it has so long reposed. Already are the pagans of liberty chanted from the Gulf of Mexico to the Rio de la Plata, and its altars are erecting on the ruins of a superstitious idolatry.

A mighty spirit walks abroad upon the earth, which shall, in its onward march, over turn principalities and powers, and trample thrones in the dust. And when the happy era shall arrive for the emancipation of nations, hastened on as it will be by the example of America, shall they not resort to the Declaration of our Independence as the charter of their rights, and will not its author be hailed as the benefactor of the redeemed? But, my countrymen, this state paper is not the only lasting testimonial which he has left us of his devotion to the rights of man.

Where should I stop were I to recount the multiplied and various acts of his life, all directed to the security of those rights? The statute-book of this State, almost all that is wise in policy or sanctified by justice, bears the impress of his genius, and furnishes evidence of that devotion.

But I choose to present him as a mighty reformer. He was born to overturn systems and to pull down establishments. He had a more difficult task to accomplish than the warrior in the embattled field. He had to conquer man, and bring him to a true sense of his own dignity. He had to encounter prejudices become venerable by ager to assail error in its strong places, and to expel it even from its fastnesses. He advanced to the charge with a bold and reckless intrepidity, but with a calculating coolness.

The Declaration, of which I have just spoken, had announced the great truth that man was capable of self-government, but it still remained for him to achieve a conquest over an error which was sanctified by age and fortified by the prejudices of mankind. He dared to proclaim the important truths, — "that Almighty God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion, who, being Lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in His almighty power to do; that the impious presumption of legislators and rulers, civil as well as ecclesiastical, who, being themselves but fallible and uninspired men, have assumed dominion over the faith of others setting up their own opinions and modes of thinking as the only true and in fallible, and, as such, endeavoring to impose them on others, have established and maintained false religions over the greatest part of the world, and through all time;" — “that truth is great and will prevail, if left to herself; that she is the proper and sufficient antagonist to error, and has nothing to fear from the conflict, unless by human interposition disarmed of her natural weapons — free argument and debate; errors ceasing to be dangerous when it is permitted freely to contradict them."

This is the language of the bill establishing religious freedom, and is to be found on our statute-book. How solemn and sublime, and how transcendently important are the truths which it announces to the world. What but his great and powerful genius could have contemplated the breaking asunder those bonds in which the conscience had been bound for centuries? Who but the ardent and devoted friend of man would have exposed himself to the thunders and denunciations of the church throughout all Christendom, by breaking into its very sanctuary, and dissolving its connection with government? If he consulted the page of history, he found that the church establishment, exercising unlimited control over the conscience, and unlocking at its pleasure the very gates of heaven to the faithful devotee, had, in all ages, governed the world; that kings had been made by its thunders to tremble on their thrones, and that thrones had been shivered by the lightnings of its wrath. In casting his eyes over the face of the globe, he beheld, it is true, the mighty spirit of Protestantism walking on the waters, but confined and limited in its empire, and even its garments dyed in the blood of the martyr. Over the rest of the world he beheld the religion of the blessed Redeemer converted into a superstitious rite, and locked up in a gloomy and ferocious mystery. The sentence of the terrible inquisitor sounded in his ears, followed by the clank of chains and the groans of the victim. If he looked in the direction from whence the sound proceeded, he saw the fires of the auto de fe consuming the agonized body of the offender, and thus finishing the last act of this horrible tragedy. He felt the full force of this picture, and, regardless of all personal danger, set about the accomplishment of the noble purpose of setting free the mind.

He, who had so much contributed to the unbinding of the hands of his countrymen, would have left his work unfinished if he had not also unfettered their consciences. True, he had in all this great work able coadjutors, who, like himself, had adventured all for their country; but he was the great captain who arrayed the forces and directed the assault. Let it, then, be henceforth proclaimed to the world, that man's conscience was created free; that he is no longer accountable to his fellow-man for his religious opinions, being responsible therefor only to his God; that it is impious in mortal man, whether clothed in purple or in lawn, to assume the judgment-seat; and that the connection between church and state is an unholy alliance, and the fruitful source of slavery and oppression; and let it be dissolved.

What an imperishable monument has Mr. Jefferson thus reared to his memory, and how strong are its claims to our gratitude! When from every part of this extended Republic the prayers and thanksgiving of countless thousands shall ascend to the throne of grace, each bending at his own altar, and worshiping his Creator after his own way, shall not every lip 'breathe a blessing on his name, and every tongue speak forth his praise? Yes, he was born a blessing to his country, and in the fulness of time shall become a blessing to mankind. He was, indeed, a precious gift — a most beloved reformer. Shall we not, then, while weeping over his loss, offer thanks to the Giver of every perfect gift for having permitted him to live?

But, my countrymen, we have still further reason for the deepest gratitude. He had not yet finished his memorable efforts in the cause of human liberty. The temple had been reared, but it was exposed to violent assaults from without. Those principles which in former ages had defeated the hopes of man, and had overthrown republics, remained to be hunted out, exposed, and guarded against. The most powerful of these was the concentration and perpetuation of wealth in the hands of particular families, and the creation thereby of an overweening aristocracy. The fatal influence of this principle had been felt in all ages and in all countries. The feeling of pride and haughtiness which wealth is so well calculated to engender, and the homage which mankind are unhappily so much disposed to render it, cause the perpetuation of large fortunes in the hands of families, the most fearful antagonist to human liberty. Marcus Crassus has said, that the man who aspires to rule a republic should not be content until he has mastered wealth sufficient to maintain an army; and Julius Caesar paved the way to the overthrow of Roman liberty by the unsparing distribution, from his inexhaustible stores, of largesses to the people.

Mr. Jefferson saw, therefore, the great necessity for reformation in our municipal code, and the act abolishing entails, and that regulating descents, are, in all their essential features, the offsprings of his well-constituted intellect. He has acted throughout on the great principle of the equality of mankind, and his every effort has been directed to the preservation of that equality among his countrymen. How powerful in its operation is our descent law in producing this effect! Founded on the everlasting principles of justice, it distributes among all his children the fruits of the parent's labor. The first-born is no longer considered the chosen of the Lord;. but nature asserts her rights, and raises the last to an equality with the first. Thus it is that the spirit of a proud independence, so auspicious to the durability of our institutions, is engendered in the bosom of our citizens; thus it is that we are under the influence of an agrarian law in effect, while nature, instead of being suppressed, is excited by new stimuli. The great law-giver of Sparta in vain sought to perpetuate the great principle of equality among the then renowned republic by various measures, all of which ultimately failed; but there is a measure which cannot fail — a measure which depends, not upon the veneration of the character of any one man, but lays hold of the affections, and records its own perpetuity in the great volume of nature — one without which the blood shed in the Revolution would have been shed in vain — without which the glories of that struggle would fade away, or exist but as another proof of man's incapacity for self-government.

What more shall I say of it? May I not call it that great measure which, to our political, like the sun to our planetary, system, imparts light and heat, unveils all its beauties, and manifests its strength? Tell me, then, ye destinies that control the future, say, is not this man's fame inscribed in adamant? Say, men of the present age, ye lovers of liberty, ye shining lights from amid the gloom of the world, say, does Virginia claim too much when she pronounces her Jefferson wiser than the law-givers of antiquity? Tell me, then, men of America, have ye not lost your father, your benefactor, your best friend? And you, the men of other countries, where the light of his example is now dimly seen — you who constitute the salt of the earth, will you not kindle your lamps in the mighty blaze of his flame, and distribute the blessings of his existence around you? Here, then, I might stop. The cause of this mournful procession is explained; his claim to the gratitude of mankind is made manifest, and his title to immortality is established. But his labors did not here cease; I have still to exhibit him to you in other lights than those in which we have already regarded him — to present other claims to your veneration and gratitude. Passing over those incidents which history has already recorded, let us regard him while in that station which I now fill, more by the kindness of the public than from any merit of my own.

We here recognize in him the able vindicator of insulted America against the sarcasms of European philosophy. Indulging in the visions of fallacious theory, it was attempted to be proved that the flush and glow which nature assumed on the other side of the Atlantic was converted on this continent into the cadaverous aspect of disease and degeneracy; that while she walked abroad over the face of Europe in all her beautiful proportions, here she hobbled on crutches and degenerated into a dwarf. How successfully he threw back this slander upon our calumniators, let the world decide.

His Notes on Virginia will ever bear him faithful witness. Slanders upon nations make the deepest and most lasting impressions. They fall not on one man, but on a whole people, and if not refuted, tend to sink them in the scale of existence. If under any circumstances they are to be deprecated, how much more are they to be so when published against a nation not even in the gristle of manhood, unknown to the mass of mankind, and struggling to be free? Such was the condition of America at that day. Shut out from free intercourse with Europe by the monopolizing spirit of the parent state, she had remained unknown to the world, and was regarded as an ex tensive wild, within whose bosom the fires of genius and intellect had not as yet been kindled. Mr. Jefferson saw then the injury she would sustain, if these slanders remained unrefuted. Vigilant at his post, and guardful of the interests of the States, he encountered the most distinguished of the philosophers of Europe, and his victory was complete.

It was answer enough for him to have said, what in substance he did say, that in war we had produced a Washington, in physics a Franklin, and in astronomy a Rittenhouse; and if his triumph had not been esteemed complete, might we not add, with the certainty of success, that in philosophy and politics she had produced a Jefferson? In all the several stations which he afterward filled, we find him laboring unceasingly for the good of his country.

Having won by his virtues and talents the confidence of Washington, he was called to preside over the Department of State. In this station he vindicated the rights of America against the sophistry of European cabinets, and gave proof of that skill in diplomacy for which he will be distinguished through all future ages. When the future statesman shall look for a model from which to form his style of diplomatic writing, will he not cease his search and seize with avidity on that, the offspring of the secretary's pen, in his correspondence with Hamilton and Genet?

Called, at length, by the voice of the people, to the presidency of these United States, he furnished the model of an administration conducted on the purest -principles of republicanism. He sought not to enlarge his powers by construction, but, referring everything to his conscience, made that the standard of the constitutional interpretation. Regarding the government in its true -and beautiful light of a confederation of States, he could not be drawn from his course by any of those splendid conceptions which shine but to mislead. He extinguished $33,000,000 of the national debt; enlarged the boundaries of our territorial jurisdiction, by the addition of regions more extensive than our original possessions; overawed the Barbary powers; and preserved the peace of the nation amid the tremendous convulsions which then agitated the world.

I will dwell no longer on this fruitful topic, nor indulge my feelings. Party spirit is buried in his grave, and I will not disinter it. The American people will, as one man, look with admiration on his character, and dwell with affectionate delight over those bright incidents in his life to which I have already alluded. Thus, then, my countrymen, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, he terminated his political career, and went into the shades of retirement at Monticello. But, unlike the politicians of other days, who had fled from the cares and anxieties of public life, that retirement was not inglorious. He still lived for his country and the world. Let that beautiful building devoted to the sciences, the last of his labors, reared under his auspices, and cherished by his care, testify to this. How choice and how delightful this, the last fruit of his bearing! How lasting a monument will it be to his memory! It will be, we may fondly hope, the perpetual nursery of those great principles which it was the business of his life to inculcate. The youth of Virginia, and the youth of our sister States, to use his own beautiful language, “will bring hither their genius to be kindled at our fire." "The good Old Dominion, the blessed mother of us all, will then raise her head with pride among the nations."

When history shall, at some future day, come to draw his character, to what department shall she assign him? Shall she encircle his brow with the wreath of civic worth? Or shall philosophy weave a garland of her own? He is equally dear to all the sciences. In mournful procession they have re paired to the tomb where his mortal remains are inurned, and hallowed the spot. Yes, hallowed be the spot where he rests from his labors. Wave after wave may roll by, sweeping in its resistless course countless generations from the earth; yet shall the resting-place of Jefferson be hallowed. Like Mount Vernon, Monticello shall catch the eye of the wayfarer and arrest his course. 'There shall he draw the inspiration of liberty, and learn those great truths which nature destined him to know.

Is not, then, this man's life most beautifully consistent? Trace him from the period of his earliest manhood to the hour of his final dissolution, and does not his ardor in the prosecution of the great work of human rights excite your admiration and enlist your gratitude? May it not be said that he has lived only for the good of others? Look upon him in the last stages of his existence. But a few days before his death he exults in the happiness of his country and the full confirmation of his labors. With the prospect of death before him, suffering under a cruel disease, he offers up an impressive prayer for the good of mankind. When speaking of the then approaching jubilee, in writing to the Mayor of Washington, he says: “May it be to the world — what I believe it will be — the signal for arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition have persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings of free government." And it shall be that signal. A flood of light has burst upon the world, and the juggernauts of superstition and the gloom of ignorance shall melt before its brightness.

Will you look upon him, my countrymen, in the latest moment of his existence? Shall I make known to you his fond concern for you and your posterity, when the hand of death pressed heavily upon him? Learn, then, that he dwelt on the subject of the University — portrayed the blessings which it was destined to diffuse, and, forgetful of his valuable services, often urged his physician to leave his bedside, lest his class might suffer in his absence. One other theme dwelt on his lips until they were motionless. It was the fourth of July. On the fourth, so says my correspondent, he raised his languid head and said, “This is the fourth of July," and the smile of contentment played upon his lips. Heaven heard his prayers, and crowned his wishes. Oh, precious life! Oh, glorious death! He has left us, my countrymen, a previous legacy. His last words were, “I resign myself to my God, and my child to my country." And shall not that child of his old age — that only surviving daughter, the solace of his dying hour — be fostered and cherished by a grateful country? Thus has terminated, in the eighty-fourth year of his age, the life of one of the greatest and best of men. His “weary sun hath made a golden set."

Let the rulers of the nations profit by his example — an example which points the way to the temple of true glory, and proclaims to the statesman of every age and of every tongue, —

“Be just, and fear not;
“Let all the ends thou aimest at be thy country's;
“Thy God's, and Truth;
“Then shall thy lifeless body sleep in blessings, and the tears of a nation water thy grave.
“Let his life be an instructive lesson to us, my countrymen. Let us teach our children to reverence his name, and even in infancy to lisp his principles. As one great means of perpetuating freedom, let the recurrence of the day of our nation's birth be ever hailed with rapture. Is it not stamped with the seal of divinity? How wonderful are the means by which He rules the world! Scarcely has the funeral knell of our Jefferson been sounded in our ears, when we are startled by the death-bell of another patriot, his zealous co adjutor in the holy cause of the Revolution — one among the foremost of those who sought his country's disenthralment — of Adams, the compeer of his early fame, the opposing orb of his meridian, the friend of his old age, and his companion to the realms of bliss. They have sunk together in death, and have fallen on the same glorious day into that sleep which knows no waking. Let not party spirit break the rest of their slumbers, but let us hallow their memory for the good deeds they have done, and implore that God who rules the universe to smile on our country.”

President James Polk

December 15, 1847

President Jefferson, in his message to Congress in [December 2,] 1806 [Sixth Annual Message], recommended an amendment of the Constitution, with a view to apply an anticipated surplus in the Treasury "to the great purposes of the public education, roads, rivers, canals, and such other objects of public improvement as it may be thought proper to add to the constitutional enumeration of Federal powers." And he adds:

“I suppose an amendment to the Constitution, by consent of the States, necessary, because the objects now recommended are not among those enumerated in the Constitution, and to which it permits the public moneys to be applied.”

In 1825 he repeated, in his published letters, the opinion that no such power has been conferred upon Congress.

President Zachary Taylor

Septr 27th 1847

Nor would I go into the presidential chair by subscribing the doctrines he has laid down; nor will I accept a nomination exclusively from either of the great parties which divide the country, the moment I done so, I would become the slave of a party instead of the chief magistrate of the nation should I be elected; without meddling with politics, or mixing myself up with political men in any way I have for many years considered the policy advocated by the whigs for the most part, more nearly assimilated to those of Mr Jefferson than those of the opponents which induced me to range myself on that side.

President Millard Fillmore

April 3, 1850

The second rule is a very salutary one, but perhaps too stringent to be always strictly observed in practice. It reads as follows:

“No member shall speak to another, or otherwise interrupt the business of the Senate, or read any newspaper, while the journals or public papers are reading, or when any member is speaking in any debate.”

Mr. Jefferson, in his “Manual” (p. 140), which seems to be a code of common law for the regulation of all parliamentary bodies in this country, says that no one is to disturb another in his speech, etc., nor to pass between the Speaker and the speaking member. These are comparatively trifling matters; and yet the rules and law of the Senate would seem to require that its presiding officer should see them enforced. I trust, however, that it is only necessary to call attention to them, to insure their observance by every Senator.

President Franklin Pierce

December 30, 1854

It is quite obvious that if there be any constitutional power which authorizes the construction of "railroads and canals" by Congress, the same power must comprehend turnpikes and ordinary carriage roads; nay, it must extend to the construction of bridges, to the draining of marshes, to the erection of levees, to the construction of canals of irrigation; in a word, to all the possible means of the material improvement of the earth, by developing its natural resources anywhere and everywhere, even within the proper jurisdiction of the several States. But if there be any constitutional power thus comprehensive in its nature, must not the same power embrace within its scope other kinds of improvement of equal utility in themselves and equally important to the welfare of the whole country? President Jefferson, while intimating the expediency of so amending the Constitution as to comprise objects of physical progress and well-being, does not fail to perceive that "other objects of public improvement," including "public education" by name, belong to the same class of powers. In fact, not only public instruction, but hospitals, establishments of science and art, libraries, and, indeed, everything appertaining to the internal welfare of the country, are just as much objects of internal improvement, or, in other words, of internal utility, as canals and railways.

President James Buchanan

February 2, 1842

Such must also have been Mr. Jefferson's opinion. When consulted by General Washington in April, 1792, as to the propriety of vetoing "the act for an apportionment of Representatives among the several States, according to the first enumeration, “what was his first reason in favor of the exercise of this power upon that occasion?” “Viewing the bill," says he, “either as a violation of the Constitution, or as giving an inconvenient exposition to its words, is it a case wherein the President ought to interpose his negative?” “I think it is.” “The non user of his negative power begins already to excite a belief that no President will ever venture to use it; and consequently, has begotten a desire to raise up barriers in the State Legislatures against Congress throwing off the control of the Constitution.”

I shall not read the other reasons he has assigned, none of them being necessary for my present purpose. Perilous, indeed, I repeat, is the exercise of the veto power, and “no President will ever venture to use it,” unless from the strongest sense of duty, and the strongest conviction that it will receive the public approbation.

October 7, 1852

And why should we not all be united in support of Franklin Pierce? It is his peculiar distinction, above all other public men within my knowledge, that he has never had occasion to take a single step backwards. What speech, vote, or sentiment of his whole political career has been inconsistent with the purest and strictest principles of Jeffersonian Democracy? Our opponents, with all their vigilance and research, have not yet been able to discover a single one. His public character as a Democrat is above all exception. In supporting him, therefore, we shall do no more than sustain in his person our dear and cherished principles…

When a candidate is before the people for office, the inquiry ought never even to be made, what form of religious faith he professes; but only, in the language of Mr. Jefferson, “Is he honest; is he capable?”

President Abraham Lincoln

Springfield, Ills, April 6, 1859

Messrs. Henry L. Pierce, & others.

Gentlemen

Your kind note inviting me to attend a Festival in Boston, on the 13th. Inst. in honor of the birth-day of Thomas Jefferson, was duly received. My engagements are such that I can not attend.

Bearing in mind that about seventy years ago, two great political parties were first formed in this country, that Thomas Jefferson was the head of one of them, and Boston the head-quarters of the other, it is both curious and interesting that those supposed to descend politically from the party opposed to Jefferson should now be celebrating his birthday in their own original seat of empire, while those claiming political descent from him have nearly ceased to breathe his name everywhere.

Remembering too, that the Jefferson party were formed upon its supposed superior devotion to the personal rights of men, holding the rights of property to be secondary only, and greatly inferior, and then assuming that the so-called democracy of to-day, are the Jefferson, and their opponents, the anti-Jefferson parties, it will be equally interesting to note how completely the two have changed hands as to the principle upon which they were originally supposed to be divided.

The democracy of to-day hold the liberty of one man to be absolutely nothing, when in conflict with another man's right of property. Republicans, on the contrary, are for both the man and the dollar; but in cases of conflict, the man before the dollar.

I remember once being much amused at seeing two partially intoxicated men engage in a fight with their great-coats on, which fight, after a long, and rather harmless contest, ended in each having fought himself out of his own coat, and into that of the other. If the two leading parties of this day are really identical with the two in the days of Jefferson and Adams, they have perfomed the same feat as the two drunken men.

But soberly, it is now no child's play to save the principles of Jefferson from total overthrow in this nation.

One would start with great confidence that he could convince any sane child that the simpler propositions of Euclid are true; but, nevertheless, he would fail, utterly, with one who should deny the definitions and axioms. The principles of Jefferson are the definitions and axioms of free society.

And yet they are denied and evaded, with no small show of success.

One dashingly calls them "glittering generalities"; another bluntly calls them "self evident lies"; and still others insidiously argue that they apply only to "superior races."

These expressions, differing in form, are identical in object and effect--the supplanting the principles of free government, and restoring those of classification, caste, and legitimacy. They would delight a convocation of crowned heads, plotting against the people. They are the van-guard--the miners, and sappers--of returning despotism.

We must repulse them, or they will subjugate us.

This is a world of compensations; and he who would be no slave, must consent to have no slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it.

All honor to Jefferson--to the man who, in the concrete pressure of a struggle for national independence by a single people, had the coolness, forecast, and capacity to introduce into a merely revolutionary document, an abstract truth, applicable to all men and all times, and so to embalm it there, that to-day, and in all coming days, it shall be a rebuke and a stumbling-block to the very harbingers of re-appearing tyranny and oppression.

Your obedient Servant
A. Lincoln

New York February 27, 1860

In the language of Mr. Jefferson, uttered many years ago, "It is still in our power to direct the process of emancipation, and deportation, peaceably, and in such slow degrees, as that the evil will wear off insensibly; and their places be, pari passu [on equal footing], filled up by free white laborers. If, on the contrary, it is left to force itself on, human nature must shudder at the prospect held up."

Mr. Jefferson did not mean to say, nor do I, that the power of emancipation is in the Federal Government. He spoke of Virginia; and, as to the power of emancipation, I speak of the slaveholding States only. The Federal Government, however, as we insist, has the power of restraining the extension of the institution — the power to insure that a slave insurrection shall never occur on any American soil which is now free from slavery.

Washington, July 4, 1861

Our adversaries have adopted some declarations of independence in which, unlike the good old one, penned by Jefferson, they omit the words "all men are created equal." Why? They have adopted a temporary national constitution, in the preamble of which, unlike our good old one, signed by Washington, they omit "We, the People," and substitute, "We, the deputies of the sovereign and independent States." Why? Why this deliberate pressing out of view the rights of men and the authority of the people?

President Andrew Johnson

June 6, 1864

I believe that man is capable of self-government, irrespective of outward circumstances, and whether he be a laborer, a shoemaker, a tailor or grocer. The question is whether a man is capable of self-government. I hold with Jefferson that government was made for the convenience of man, and not man for the government; that laws and constitutions were designed as mere instruments to promote his welfare. And hence from this principle I conclude that governments can and ought to be changed and amended to conform to the wants, to the requirements and progress of the people, and the enlightened spirit of the age.

Now, if any of you secessionists have lost faith in man's capability of self-government, and feel unfit for the exercise of this great right, go straight to rebeldom, take Jeff. Davis, Beauregard and Bragg for your masters, and put their collars on your necks.

And here let me say, that now is the time to recur to these fundamental principles. While the land is rent with anarchy and up heaved with the throes of a mighty revolution; while society is in this disordered state, and we are seeking security, let us fix the foundations of the Government on principles of eternal justice, which will endure for all time.

There is an element in our midst who are for perpetuating the institution of slavery. Let me say to you, Tennesseeans and men from the Northern States, that slavery is dead. It was not murdered by me. I told you long ago what the result would be if you endeavored to go out of the Union to save slavery, and that the result would be bloodshed, rapine, devastated fields, plundered villages and cities; and therefore I urged you to remain in the Union. In trying to save slavery you killed it, and lost your own freedom. Your slavery is dead, but I did not murder it. As Macbeth said to Banquo's bloody ghost:

‘Never shake thy gory locks at me,
Thou canst not say I did it.'

Slavery is dead, and you must pardon me if I do not mourn over its dead body; you can bury it out of sight. In restoring the State leave out that disturbing and dangerous element, and use only those parts of the machinery which will move in harmony.

Now, in regard to emancipation, I want to say to the blacks that liberty means liberty to work and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Idleness is not freedom. I desire that all men shall have a fair start and an equal chance in the race of life, and let him succeed who has the most merit. This, I think, is a principle of heaven. I am for emancipation for two reasons: first, because it is right in itself; and second, because in the emancipation of the slaves, we break down an odious and dangerous aristocracy. I think that we are freeing more whites than blacks in Tennessee.

President Ulysses S. Grant

June 13, 1870

From 1789 to 1815 the dominant thought of our statesmen was to keep the United States out of the wars which were devastating Europe. The discussion of measures of neutrality begins with the State papers of Mr. Jefferson when Secretary of State. He shows that they are measures of national right as well as of national duty; that misguided individual citizens can not be tolerated in making war according to their own caprice, passions, interests, or foreign sympathies; that the agents of foreign governments, recognized or unrecognized, can not be permitted to abuse our hospitality by usurping the functions of enlisting or equipping military or naval forces within our territory.

President Rutherford B. Hayes

December 15. Monday. [1890] —

Democracy and Republicanism in their best partisan utterances alike declare for human rights. Jefferson, the father of Democracy, Lincoln, the embodiment of Republicanism, and the Divine author of the religion on which true civilization rests, all proclaim the equal rights of all men.

President James Garfield

July 12, 1880

Fortunately for the interests of commerce, there is no longer any formidable opposition to appropriation for the improvements of our harbors and great navigable rivers, provided that the expenditures for that purpose are strictly limited to works of national importance. The Mississippi river, with its great tributaries is of such vital importance to so many millions of people, that the safety of its navigation requires exceptional consideration. In order to secure to the nation the control of all its waters, President Jefferson negotiated the purchase of a vast territory extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. The wisdom of Congress should be invoked to devise some plan by which that great river shall cease to be a terror to those who dwell upon its banks, and by which its shipping may safely carry the industrial products of 25,000,000 of people. The interests of agriculture, which is the basis of all our material prosperity, and in which seven-twelfths of the population are arrayed, as well as the interest of manufactures and commerce, demand that the facilities for cheap transportation shall be increased by the use of all our great water courses.

President Chester A. Arthur

[Source: “Chester Alan Arthur: The Life of a Gilded Age Politician and President” by Gregory J. Dehler]

January 19, 1882

Arthur was probably one of the least hard-working Presidents in history…

In addition to fine food and spirits, Arthur maintained his expensive lifestyle. He liked to pamper himself and spent huge sums of money on consumption. His dapper and costly wardrobe never failed to impress. Unlike Thomas Jefferson, Arthur would not be seen in the White House in frayed slippers. Arthur had a large ornate green carriage and two magnificent horses to pull them. There was no confusing his carriage on the streets of the nation's capital.

President Grover Cleveland

New York, April 13, 1891

These considerations furnish to those who love their country the highest and best incentives to constant and faithful effort in the cause of true Democracy.

We are reminded on this occasion that we not only have a proud history and glorious traditions, but that our party had an illustrious founder, whose services and teachings have done as much to justify and make successful our government by the people and for the people, as any American who ever lived. A claim to such political ancestry is, of itself, sufficient to lend honor and pride to membership in a party which preserves in their vigor and purity the principles of that Democracy which was established by Thomas Jefferson.

These principles were not invented for the purpose of gaining popular assent for a day, nor only because they were useful in the early time of the Republic. They were not announced for the purpose of serving personal ambitions, nor merely for the purpose of catching the suffrage of the people. They were laid as deep and broad as the truths upon which the fabric of our government rested. In the spirit of prophecy, they were formulated and declared, not only as suited to the experiments of a new government, but as sufficient in every struggle and every emergency which should beset popular rule, in all times to come and in all stages of our country's growth and development.

President Benjamin Harrison

September 3, 1892

A Democratic Congress holding this view can not enact, nor a Democratic President approve, any tariff schedule the purpose or effect of which is to limit importations or to give any advantage to an American workman or producer. A bounty might, I judge, be given to the importer under this view of the Constitution, in order to increase importations, and so the revenue for "revenue only" is the limitation. Reciprocity, of course, falls under this denunciation, for its object and effect are not revenue, but the promotion of commercial exchanges, the profits of which go wholly to our producers.

This destructive, un-American doctrine was not held or taught by the historic Democratic statesmen whose fame as American patriots has reached this generation — certainly not by Jefferson or Jackson. This mad crusade against American shops, the bitter epithets applied to American manufacturers, the persistent disbelief of every report of the opening of a tin-plate mill or of an increase of our foreign trade by reciprocity are as surprising as they are discreditable.

President William McKinley

October 16, 1899

I never travel through this mighty West, a part of the Louisiana Purchase, — Iowa, part of Minnesota, and the Dakotas,— that I do not feel like offering my gratitude to Thomas Jefferson for his wisdom and foresight in acquiring this vast territory, to be peopled by men and women such as I have seen here and elsewhere in these four States. [Great applause.]

President Theodore Roosevelt

Dec 15, 1896

My dear Mr. Turner:-

I was delighted to receive your letter. I am more and more inclined to think that you are quite right as to the inadvisability of my taking the [negative] tone I did toward Jefferson.

October 27, 1902

My dear Mr. Fischer:

I could have received on my birthday no present I should have appreciated more than the gift, or rather the gifts, you have sent me — the picture of Jefferson and his framed autograph letter. Indeed I accept them with the greatest pleasure; and thank you heartily for your thoughtfulness. You know how Mrs. Roosevelt and I always enjoy our visits to your gallery.

Believe me, with sincere thanks,

Very truly yours,

Theodore Roosevelt

July 5, 1904

My dear Mr. Page:

I have received your letter about the movement to raise a Thomas Jefferson memorial fund as an endowment for the University of Virginia. I most earnestly wish you success, and I feel that the moment you have chosen is most opportune, owing to the reawakened interest in Jefferson's great work caused by the centenary of the Louisiana Purchase. Your work should commend itself not only to those who are especially interested in the cause of higher education in the South, but to all who are interested in the cause of higher education throughout our country. You need a large sum for such a memorial, and I can not help feeling that you will get it if the most eminent men of the country, irrespective of section or party, can have the matter laid before them and are satisfied, as they should be satisfied, as to the great merit of the movement.

The University of Virginia occupies a unique position among our educational institutions. On the first board of visitors to the institution were Jefferson, Madison and Monroe. The university was one of Jefferson's cherished ideas - a project which occupied his whole time and attention during the latter years of his life. It has never had an endowment requisite to its barest needs.

Now in the great exposition at St. Louis the country is proclaiming the centennial of the achievement in which Jefferson took the leading part; the achievement which, in the purchase of the then territory of Louisiana, definitely established this country as the greatest nation of the Western Hemisphere. Surely this celebration should not be brought to a close without leaving on the nation some other mark than the memory of its grandeur. The movement to this end can most properly take the form of a monument forever to Jefferson's genius; a moment far more enduring than bronze, and which will fully realize one of his greatest ideals.

It would be a good thing if the people of this country, North and South, East and West, should come forward and establish a Jefferson Fund for the university as a fit culmination for the great celebration of the present year. Jefferson wrote his own epitaph to be inscribed on the granite shaft that marks his grave at Monticello. In this epitaph he did not recite the offices he had held, but the three deeds he had done which he esteemed of most worth to his fellow men, and the epitaph runs as follows:

“Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of American Independence, the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia.”

The American people can surely be, appealed to with confidence to carry out Jefferson's work in the way which he would himself have regarded as most gratifying, by endowing, as it should be endowed, the noble institution of learning which he founded. I earnestly hope for the success of your movement.

Sincerely yours,

Theodore Roosevelt

President William Howard Taft

September 29, 1909

One of Mr. Seward's substantial claims to the gratitude of his countrymen and to a place among the statesmen of his country was the broad view which he took of the value of Alaska and his wisdom in effecting its purchase. The cession of Virginia and the ordinance of 1787, which gave to the nation the Middle West, the purchase by Jefferson of Louisiana Territory, which carried our domain to the Rocky Mountains, the annexation of Texas, and the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo, which extended our territory to the Pacific Coast, were properly supplemented by the acquisition of Alaska, and this Exposition may well be regarded as a celebration of the foresight of Seward in his policy of expansion.

President Woodrow Wilson

March 1880

Jefferson was a born leader of men, who not only led his party, but first created it and then taught it the methods of power…

Even Mr. Jefferson, philanthropist and champion of peaceable and modest government though he was, exemplified this double temper of the people he ruled. “Peace is our passion,” he had declared; but the passion abated when he saw the mouth of the Missis¬ sippi about to pass into the hands of France. Though he had loved France and hated England, he did not hesitate then what language to hold. “There is on the globe,” he wrote to Mr. Livingston at Paris, “one single spot the possessor of which is our natural and habitual enemy. The day that France takes possession of New Orleans seals the union of two nations, who, in conjunction, can maintain exclusive possession of the sea. From that moment we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation.” Our interests must march forward, altruists though we are: other nations must see to it that they stand off, and do not seek to stay us.

April 13, 1908

Only principles are constructive. No miscellaneous programme of measures formed by no principle, unified by no controlling purpose, can give life to a great national party and lift it above faction or futility. The principle to which the voters of this country should be called back now is the great constructive principle of the reign of law. The familiar Jeffersonian maxim that that government is the best which governs least, translated into the terms of modern experience, means that that government is best whose processes least expose the individual to arbitrary interference and the choices of governors, which makes him most secure of the regular and impartial administration of fixed and uniform rules, which makes no distinction between class and class, aims always at eliminating undesirable transactions rather than at setting up official interference with the management of business, and looks to individuals, not to the general public (such as investors) to bear the penalties of infraction. Law, and the government as umpire; not discretionary power, and the government as master, should be the programme of every man who loves liberty and the established character of the Republic.

October 1909

In one sense, it is not a question of politics. It does not involve Hamilton’s theories of Government or of constitutional interpretation. Some of us are Jeffersonians, not Hamiltonians, in political creed and principle, and would not linger long over the question, What shall we do to return safely to Hamilton? It is not a Hamiltonian question.

April 13, 1912

What Jefferson Would Do

The circumstances of our day are so utterly different from those of Jefferson’s day that it may seem nothing less than an act of temerity to attempt to say what Jefferson would do if he were now alive and guiding us with his vision and command. The world we live in no longer divided into neighbourhoods and communities; the lines of the telegraph thread it like nerves uniting a single organism. The ends of the earth touch one another and exchange impulse and purpose. America has swung out of her one-time isolation and has joined the family of nations. She is linked to mankind by every tie of blood and circumstance. She is more cosmopolitan in her make-up than any other nation of the world; is enriched by a greater variety of energy drawn from strong peoples the world over. She is not the simple, homogeneous, rural nation that she was in Jefferson’s time, making only a beginning at development and the conquest of fortune; she is great and strong; above all she is infinitely varied; her affairs are shot through with emotion and the passion that comes with strength and growth and self-confidence. We live in a new and strange age and reckon with new affairs alike in economics and politics of which Jefferson knew nothing.

And yet we may remind ourselves that Jefferson’s mind did not move in a world of narrow circumstances; it did not confine itself to the conditions of a single race or a single continent. It had commerce with the thought of men old and new; it had moved in an age of ample air, in which men thought not only of nations but of mankind, in which they saw not only individual policies, but a great field of human need and of human fortune. Neither did he think in abstract terms, as did the men with whom he had had such stimulating commerce of thought in France. His thought was not speculation; it was the large generalization that comes from actual observation and experience. He had had contact with plain men of many kinds, as well as with philosophers and foreign statesmen. He thought in a way that his neighbours in Virginia could understand, in a way which illuminated their own lives and ambitions for them. And though he was deemed a philosopher, he was nevertheless the idol of the people, for he somehow heard and voiced what they themselves could have said and purposed and conceived. For all the largeness of his thought, it was bathed in an everyday atmosphere; it belongs to the actual, workaday world; it has its feet firmly on circumstances and fact and the footing all men are accustomed to who reflect at all on their lives and the lives of their neighbours and compatriots. He was holding up for the illumination of the things of which he spoke a light which he had received out of the hands of old philosophers. But the rays of that light as he held it fell upon actual American life; they did not lose themselves vaguely in space; they were for the guidance of men’s feet every day.

We may be sure, therefore, that had Jefferson lived in our time he would have acted upon the facts as they are. In the first place, because he would have seen them as they actually are, and in the second place because he would have been interested in theory only as he could adjust it to the reality of the life about him. He would not have been content with a philosophy which he could fit together only within the walls of his study. To determine what Jefferson would have done, therefore, requires only that we should ourselves clearly see the facts of our time as they are, whether in the field of government or in the field of our economic life, and that we should see how Jefferson’s principle of the rule and authority of the people stands related to these facts. We are constantly quoting Jefferson’s fundamental thought: it was that no policy could last whose foundation is narrow, based upon the privileges and authority of a few, but that its foundations must be as broad as the interests of all the men and families and neighbourhoods that live under it. Monopoly, private control, the authority of privilege, the concealed mastery of a few men cunning enough to rule without showing their power — he would have at once announced them rank weeds which were sure to choke out all wholesome life in the fair garden of affairs. If we can detect these things in our time; if we can see them and describe them and touch them as they are, then we know what Jefferson would have done. He would have moved against them, sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly, sometimes openly, sometimes subtly; but whether he merely mined about them or struck directly at them, he would have set systematic war against them at the front of all his purpose.

As regards the real influences that control our Government, he would have asked first of all: Are they determined by the direct and open contacts of opinion? He would have found that they were not; that, on the contrary, our Government as it has developed has supplied secret influences with a hundred coverts and ambushes; that the opinion of the Nation makes little noise in the committee rooms of legislatures; that it is certain large, special interests and not the people who maintain the lobby; that the argument of the lobby is oftentimes louder and more potent than the argument of the hustings and the floor of the representative body. He would have found, moreover, that until very recent years opinion had had very difficult access, if any at all, in most seasons, of the private conferences in which candidates for office were chosen, candidates for both administrative and legislative office, and that in the private conferences where it was determined who should be nominated and, therefore, of course, who should be elected, the same influences had established themselves which ruled in the legislative lobby. That money, the money that kept the whole organization together, flowed in, not from the general body of the people, but from those who wished to determine in their own private interest what governors and legislators should and should not do.

It is plain in such circumstances what he would have insisted, as we are insisting now, that if there could be found no means by which the authority and purpose of the people could break into these private places and establish their rule again, if the jungle proved too thick for the common thought to explore, if the coverts where the real power lurked were too difficult to find, the forces of genuine democracy must move around them instead of through them, must surround and beleaguer them, must establish a force outside of them by which they can be dominated or overawed. It is with the discussion of just such affairs that the public mind is now preoccupied and engrossed. Debate is busy with them from one end of the land to the other.

As regards the economic policy of the country it is perfectly plain that Mr. Jefferson would have insisted upon a tariff fitted to actual conditions, by which he would have meant not the interests of the few men who find access to the hearings of the Ways and Means Committee of the House and the Finance Committee of the Senate, but the interests of the business men and manufacturers and farmers and workers and professional men of every kind and class. He would have insisted that the schedules should be turned wrong side out and every item of their contents subjected to the general scrutiny of all concerned. It is plain, also, that he would have insisted upon a currency system elastic, indeed, and suited to the varying circumstances of the money market in a great industrial and trading Nation, but absolutely fortified and secured against a central control, the influence of coteries, and leagues of banks to which it is now in constant danger of being subjected. He would have known that the currency question is not only an economic question but a political question, and that, above all things else, control must be in the hands of those who represent the general interest and not in the hands of those who represent the things we are seeking to guard against.

In the general field of business his thought would, of course, have gone about to establish freedom, to throw business opportunity open at every point to new men, to destroy the processes of monopoly, to exclude the poison of special favours, to see that, whether big or little, business was not dominated by anything but the law itself, and that that law was made in the interest of plain, unprivileged men everywhere.

Jefferson’s principles are sources of light because they are not made up of pure reason, but spring out of aspiration, impulse, vision, sympathy. They burn with the fervour of the heart; they wear the light of interpretation he sought to speak in, the authentic terms of honest, human ambition. And the law in his mind was the guardian of all legitimate ambition. It was the great umpire standing by to see that the game was honourably and fairly played in the spirit of generous rivalry and open the field free to every sportsmanlike contestant.

Constitutions are not inventions. They do not create our liberty. They are rooted in life, in fact, in circumstance, in environment. They are not the condition of our liberty but its expression. They result from our life; they do not create it. And so there beats in them always, if they live at all, this pulse of the large life of humanity. As they yield and answer to that they are perfected and exalted.

Indeed, the whole spirit of government is the spirit of men of every kind banded together in a generous combination seeking the common good. Nations are exalted, parties are made great as they partake of this aspiration and are permitted to see this vision of the Nation as a whole struggling toward a common ideal and a common hope.

We as Democrats are particularly bound at this season of expectation, and of confidence to remember that it is only in this spirit and with this vision that we can ever serve either the Nation or ourselves. As we approach the time when we are to pick out a President — for I believe that is to be our privilege — we should fix our thought on this one great fact, that no man is big enough or great enough to be President alone. He will be no stronger than his party. His strength will lie in the counsel of his comrades. His success will spring out of the union and energy and unselfish cooperation of his party, and his party must be more than half the Nation. It must include, and genuinely include, men of every class and race and disposition. If he be indeed the representative of his people, there may be vouchsafed to him through them something of the vision to conceive what Jefferson conceived and understood — how the vision may be carried into reality.

April 13, 1916

It is a spirit that we assemble to render honor to tonight, and the only way that we can render honor to a spirit is by showing that we are ourselves prepared to exemplify it. The immortality of Thomas Jeffer son does not lie in any one of his achievements, or in the series of his achievements, but in his attitude toward mankind and the conception which he sought to realize in action of the service allowed by America to the rest of the world.

One of the things that have seemed to me most to limit the usefulness of the Republican party has been its provincial spirit, and one of the things which has immortalized the influence of Thomas Jefferson has been that his was the spirit of humanity, exemplified upon the field of America. Thomas Jefferson was a great leader of men because he understood and interpreted the spirits of men. Some men can be led by their interests; all men can be led by their affections. Some men can be led by covetousness; all men can be led by their visions of the mind.

It is not a circumstance without significance that Jefferson felt, more than any other American of his time except Benjamin Franklin, his close kinship with like thinking spirits everywhere else in the civilized world. His comradeship was as intimate with the thinkers of France as with the frontiersman of America; and this rather awkward, rather diffident man carried about with him a sort of type of what all men should wish to be who loved liberty and sought to lead their fellow- men along those difficult paths of achievement.

The only way we can honor Thomas Jefferson is by illustrating his spirit and following his example. His example was an example of organization and concerted action for the rights of men, first in America and then by America’s example everywhere in the world. The thing that interested Jefferson is the only thing that ought to interest me. No American, who has caught the true historic enthusiasm of this great country that we love, can be proud of it merely because of its accumulated great material wealth and power. The pride comes in when we conceive how that power ought to be used.

As I have listened to some of the speeches tonight, the great feeling has come into my heart that we are better prepared than we ever were before to show how America can lead the way along the paths of light. Take the single matter of the financial statistics, of which we have only recently become precisely informed. The mere increase in the resources of the national banks of the country in the last twelve months exceeds the total resources of the Deutscher Reichsbank, and the aggregate resources of the national banks of the United States exceed by three thousand millions the aggregate resources of the Bank of England, the Bank of France, the Bank of Russia, the Reichsbank of Berlin, the Bank of Netherlands, the Bank of Switzerland, and the Bank of Japan.

Under the provincial conceptions of the Republican party this would have been impossible. Under the world conceptions of those of us who are proud to follow the tradition of Thomas Jefferson, it has been realized in fact, and the question we have to put to ourselves is this: “How are we going to use this power?”

There are only two theories of government. One that power should be centered in the control of trustees, who should determine the administration of all economic and political affairs. That is the theory of the Republican party. A carefully hand-picked body of trustees. The other theory is that of government by responsible and responsive servants of the great body of citizens, able to understand the common interests because in direct and sympathetic touch with the common desire and the common need. The peculiarity of those who think in the terms of trusteeship is that their thinking always squares with the preferences of the powerful, and never squares with the lessons of history.

I was talking one day with a gentleman who was expounding to me the very familiar idea that somebody (I dare say he would prefer to name the persons) should act as guardians and trustees for the people for the neighboring Republic of Mexico. I said: “I defy you to show a single example in history in which liberty and prosperity were ever handed down from above. Prosperity for the great masses of mankind has never sprung out of the soil of privilege. Prosperity for the great masses of mankind has never been created by the beneficence of privilege.

“Prosperity and right, prosperity and liberty, have never come by favor; they have always come by right. And the only competent expounders of rights are the men who covet the opportunity to exercise them. When I see the crust even so much as slightly broken over the heads of a population which has always been directed by a board of trustees, I make up my mind that I will thrust not only my arm but my heart in the aperture, and that only by crushing every ounce of power that I can use shall any man ever close that opening up again. Wherever we use our power we must use it with this conception always in mind, that we are using it for the benefit of the persons who are chiefly interested and not for our own benefit.”

So by such process and by such processes alone, can we illustrate and honor the spirit of Thomas Jeffer son. You cannot draw examples from the deeds of Thomas Jefferson, who presided over a little nation only just then struggling for recognition among the nations of the world, without material power, without the respect of foreign nations, without the opportunities of wealth, without the experiences of long periods of trial. There is no parallel in the circumstances of the time of Thomas Jefferson with the circumstances of the time in which we live; and my pride is that in the three years in which we have been privileged to serve this great and trustful people we have devoted ourselves to the constructive execution of the promises we so solemnly made.

Mr. Glass, with the pleasing modesty which has always characterized him, sought to show that his was not the statesmanlike mind that conceived one of the greatest achievements of the last three years; there is not going to be any quarrel as to where the credit be longs. The thing that is going to strike the imagination of the country is that the Democratic party, without picking out the men or discriminating the praise, produced the constructive statesmanship which the Republican party has not in long generations produced.

It has spent its time harking back to a single out worn economic error to which its intellectual armory apparently is limited, while we have gone forward in the spirit of a new age to conceive the methods by which the new necessity of civilization shall be met. We have conceived it in such spirit and in such method that for the first time since the Republican party and their predecessors destroyed the merchant marine of the United States we have turned the thoughts and the energies and the conquering genius of the businessmen of America to the great field of the business of the world at large. We have struck the trammels of provincialism away from them and they are beginning to see the great world in which their genius shall hence forth play the part that other nations have hitherto usurped and monopolized.

Frankly, I am not interested in personal ambitions. May I not admit even in this company that I am not enthusiastic over a mere party success? I like to see men take fire of great progressive ideas, and, banding themselves together like a body of thoughtful brothers, put their shoulders together and lift some part of the great load that has depressed humanity.

This country has not the time, it is not now in the temper, to listen to the violent, to the passionate, to the ambitious. This country demands service which is essentially and fundamentally non-partisan. Some gentlemen will learn this soon, some will learn it late, but they will all learn it so thoroughly that it will be digested. This country demands at this time as it never did before absolutely disinterested and non-partisan service.

And I do not now refer merely to foreign affairs, where everybody professes to be non-partisan. I refer just as much to domestic affairs, for in saying non-partisan I do not mean merely as between parties and political organizations, but also and more fundamentally as between classes and interests.

One of the things that it has been just as interesting to prove as anything else that we have proved in the last three years is that we are not partisans as against legitimate business, no matter how great; that we are not fighting anybody that is doing legitimate business, but we are fighting for everybody that wants to do legitimate business.

And we are not partisans as between the rich and the poor, as between the employer and the employee, but if it be possible we are partisans in our thinking, and would, if we could, draw them together to see the interests of the country in the same terms and express them in the same concerted purposes. Any man who fights for any class in the country is now fighting against the interests of America and the welfare of the world.

We are non-partisans as between interests, as between political ambitions, as between those who desire power and those who have it. For power will never again in America, if I know anything of its temper, long be intrusted to those who use it in their own behalf.

Are you ready for the test? God forbid that we should ever become directly or indirectly embroiled in quarrels not of our own choosing, and that do not affect what we feel responsible to defend; but if we should ever be drawn in, are you ready to go in only where the interests of America are coincident with the interests of mankind and to draw out the moment the interest centers in America and is narrowed from the wide circle of humanity? Are you ready for the test? Have you courage to go in? Have you the courage to come out according as the balance is disturbed or readjusted for the interest of humanity?

If you are heady, you have inherited the spirit of Jefferson, who recognized the men in France and the men in Germany, who were doing the liberal thinking of their day, and just as much citizens of the great world of liberty as he was himself, and who was ready in every conception he had to join hands across the water or across any other barrier with those who held those high conceptions of liberty which had brought the United States into existence. When we lose that sympathy we lose the titles of our own heritage. So long as we keep them we can go through the world with lifted head and with the consciousness of those who do not serve themselves except as they conceive that they have purified their hearts for the service of mankind. These are days that search men’s hearts.

These are days that discredit selfish speech; these are days that ought to quiet the ill-considered counsel. These are solemn days, when all the moral standards of mankind are to be fully tried out. And the responsibility is with us, — with us Democrats — because the power for the time being is ours to say whether America under our leadership shall hold these eternal balances even or shall let some malign influence depress one balance and lift the other, till we shall look around and say: ‘Who stands for the old visions of liberty and whose eyes are still open to those spiritual images conceived at our birth?”

President Warren Harding

October 19, 1921

But its genius for drawing close to the spirit of the times, for always contributing greatly to the leadership of great affairs, has been the abiding glory of William and Mary. The spirit of human liberty—of that liberty that dares to build, to experiment, to found new institutes of association and conduct—has always thrived here. Here, I think we may safely infer, where the campus was the common ground between the old State House and the college structures, is to be found the oldest inspiration of the State university system which has done so much for liberal and truly democratic education. Here came Jefferson, author of the immortal Declaration, to expand a medieval college into a modern university on lines as broad as his own concept of human rights; here he found an atmosphere in which to develop those noble sentiments of mankind's fraternity which enabled him, years after writing our own Declaration of Independence, to become one of the moral inspirations and intellectual counsellors of the French Revolution. Here Washington was granted a degree, and here he served as chancellor. From this institution were graduated three Presidents—Jefferson, Monroe, and Tyler. The great lawgiver of the young Republic, John Marshall, was another alumnus; and so was George Wythe, signer of the Declaration and preceptor to Marshall and Jefferson.

President Calvin Coolidge

August 10, 1927

Next to him will come Thomas Jefferson, whose wisdom insured that the Government which Washington had formed should be entrusted to the administration of the people. He emphasized the element of self-government which had been enshrined in American institutions in such a way as to demonstrate that it was practical and would be permanent. In him was likewise embodied the spirit of expansion. Recognizing the destiny of this Country, he added to its territory. By removing the possibility of any powerful opposition from a neighboring state, he gave new guaranties to the rule of the people.

1929

Washington was treated with the greatest reverence, and a high estimate was placed on the statesmanlike qualities and financial capacity of Hamilton, but Jefferson was not neglected. In spite of his many vagaries it was shown that in saving the nation from the danger of falling under the domination of an oligarchy, and in establishing a firm rule of the people which was forever to remain, he vindicated the soundness of our political institutions. The whole course was a thesis on good citizenship and good government. Those who took it came to a clearer comprehension not only of their rights and liberties but of their duties and responsibilities…

Yet the President exercises his authority in accordance with the Constitution and the law. He is truly the agent of the people, performing such functions as they have entrusted to him. The Constitution specifically vests him with the executive power. Some Presidents have seemed to interpret that as an authorization to take any action which the Constitution, or perhaps the law, does not specifically prohibit. Others have considered that their powers extended only to such acts as were specifically authorized by the Constitution and the statutes. This has always seemed to me to be a hypothetical question, which it would be idle to attempt to determine in advance. It would appear to be the better practice to wait to decide each question on its merits as it arises. Jefferson is said to have entertained the opinion that there was no constitutional warrant for enlarging the territory of the United States, but when the actual facts confronted him he did not hesitate to negotiate the Louisiana Purchase. For all ordinary occasions the specific powers assigned to the President will be found sufficient to provide for the welfare of the country. That is all he needs…

The practice which I followed in my relations with commissions and in the recognition of rank has been long established. President Jefferson seems to have entertained the opinion that even the Supreme Court should be influenced by his wishes and that failing in this a recalcitrant judge should be impeached by a complaisant Congress. This brought him into a sharp conflict with John Marshall, who resisted any encroachment upon the independence of the Court. In this controversy the position of Marshall has been vindicated. It is also said that at some of his official dinners President Jefferson left all his guests to the confusion of taking whatever seat they could find at his table. But this method did not survive the test of history. In spite of all his greatness, anyone who had as many ideas as Jefferson was bound to find that some of them would not work. But this does not detract from the wisdom of his faith in the people and his constant insistence that they be left to manage their own affairs. His opposition to bureaucracy will bear careful analysis, and the country could stand a great deal more of its application. The trouble with us is that we talk about Jefferson but do not follow him. In his theory that the people should manage their government, and not be managed by it, he was everlastingly right.

President Herbert Hoover

April 11, 1930

The noteworthy and most unusual coincidence that the religious holy days known as Palm Sunday and Passover both occur this year upon the birthday of Thomas Jefferson makes it indeed appropriate that the anniversary, on April thirteenth, is to be observed educationally and patriotically with special emphasis upon the founding of religious freedom. Jefferson's contribution, together with that of the other fathers of the Republic, to the famous Statute for Religious Freedom and his life-long championship of that principle decisively helped to fix it permanently in the national policy, with results beneficent beyond calculation. It is useful to recall these benefits and to renew their sanctions in the general conscience of mankind.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt

April 13, 1943

Today, in the midst of a great war for freedom, we dedicate a shrine to freedom.

To Thomas Jefferson, Apostle of Freedom, we are paying a debt long overdue.

Yet, there are reasons for gratitude that this occasion falls within our time; for our generation of Americans can understand much in Jefferson's life which intervening generations could not see as well as we.

He faced the fact that men who will not fight for liberty can lose it. We, too, have faced that fact.

He lived in a world in which freedom of conscience and freedom of mind were battles still to be fought through—not principles already accepted of all men. We, too, have lived in such a world.

He loved peace and loved liberty—yet on more than one occasion he was forced to choose between them. We, too, have been compelled to make that choice.

Generations which understand each other across the distances of history are the generations united by a common experience and a common cause. Jefferson, across a hundred and fifty years of time, is closer by much to living men than many of our leaders of the years between. His cause was a cause to which we also are committed, not by our words alone but by our sacrifice.

For faith and ideals imply renunciations. Spiritual advancement throughout all our history has called for temporal sacrifices.

The Declaration of Independence and the very purposes of the American Revolution itself, while seeking freedoms, called for the abandonment of privileges.

Jefferson was no dreamer-for half a century he led his State and his Nation in fact and in deed. I like to think that this was so because he thought in terms of the morrow as well as the day—and this was why he was hated or feared by those who thought in terms of the day and the yesterday.

We judge him by the application of his philosophy to the circumstances of his life. But in such applying we come to understand that his life was given for those deeper values that persist throughout all time.

Leader in the philosophy of government, in education, in the arts, in efforts to lighten the toil of mankind—exponent of planning for the future, he led the steps of America into the path of the permanent integrity of the Republic.

Thomas Jefferson believed, as we believe, in Man. He believed, as we believe, that men are capable of their own government, and that no king, no tyrant, no dictator can govern for them as well as they can govern for themselves.

He believed, as we believe, in certain inalienable rights. He, as we, saw those principles and freedoms challenged. He fought for them, as we fight for them.

He proved that the seeming eclipse of liberty can well become the dawn of more liberty. Those who fight the tyranny of our own time will come to learn that old lesson. Among all the peoples of the earth, the cruelties and the oppressions of its would-be masters have taught this generation what its liberties can mean. This lesson, so bitterly learned, will never be forgotten while this generation is still alive.

The words which we have chosen for this Memorial speak Jefferson's noblest and most urgent meaning; and we are proud indeed to understand it and share it:

"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

[Jefferson Memorial was held on Jefferson's birthday. The entire ceremony, including the President's address, lasted fifteen minutes and was staged with the simplicity which Jefferson himself would have liked. Two years later, the President had prepared an address for delivery on Jefferson Day, 1945, in which he set forth the hopes of humanity for enduring peace. The President died the day before this Jefferson Day speech was to have been delivered.]

President Harry S. Truman

May 17, 1950

I accept with great pleasure the first copy of Volume One of "The Papers of Thomas Jefferson." On behalf of the people of the United States, I congratulate Princeton University and the Princeton University Press on undertaking to edit and publish the great series which this volume begins.

I should like to add a personal word of appreciation and encouragement to the editors for the years of hard work that are still ahead of them. I am very well acquainted with what many people call "paper work," and I appreciate the immense amount of painstaking effort which each of these volumes requires.

We should also be grateful to the New York Times for the financial assistance which that newspaper has given to help compile this complete edition of the writings of one of the greatest Americans. This edition will be of lasting value to our Nation for generations to come.

As many of you know, I returned to Washington yesterday from a visit to the Pacific Northwest. Traveling at what is today a very leisurely rate, in 9 days I went nearly 7,000 miles through 16 States. In 1803 President Jefferson sent out two young pioneers to explore the same area I have just been through. Jefferson wanted to find out what was in the great new territory he had just bought from Napoleon.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark took 28 months to make the round trip from the banks of the Mississippi to the mouth of the Columbia River on the Pacific coast. Where they found only Indian villages, herds of buffalo, and trackless wilderness and sagebrush, I saw great cities, immense structures like Grand Coulee Dam, and rich farmland. These sharp contrasts are only a few of many that point up the dramatic changes that have occurred in our country since Jefferson's day. Since the United States today scarcely resembles the United States when Jefferson knew it, why should the publication of his letters be so important to us?

The answer should be obvious, as we turn the pages of this first volume. Throughout his life, Jefferson waged an uncompromising fight against tyranny. The search for human liberty was a goal which he pursued with burning zeal. The spirit of democracy shines through everything he ever wrote.

Today, when democracy is facing the greatest challenge in its history, the spirit which Jefferson expressed in his battle against tyranny, and in his search for human liberty, stands out as a beacon of inspiration for free peoples throughout the world.

Jefferson lived in a time of great struggle, when this Nation was trying to establish itself as a democracy of free men. We today, in a different time and under different conditions, are in a great struggle to preserve and expand human freedom.

Our stage is larger--our struggle must be waged over the whole world, not merely in our own country. But the essential nature of the struggle is the same; to prove, by hard work and practical demonstration, that free men can create for themselves a good society, in which they live together at peace, and advance their common welfare.

When freedom is at stake, we need to draw upon every source of strength we can. Jefferson thought deeply about how to make liberty a living part of our society, and he proved the rightness of his thinking by practical demonstration. That is why I think it is particularly important that we are reasserting Jefferson's ideals by publishing these volumes.

History can be fairly written only when all the facts are on record. Jefferson has suffered at the hands of unscrupulous biographers and biased partisans ever since his death. The publication of his papers should correct the mistakes that have been made about him and should help prevent misinterpretations in the future.

There are others like Jefferson whose lives have enriched our history, but about whom we know too little. Many of them have been victims of unfair treatment at the hands of historians; others have been neglected because the record of their work is scattered about in remote places.

I hope that this edition of the writings of Thomas Jefferson will inspire educational institutions, learned societies, and civic-minded groups to plan the publication of the works of other great national figures. In far too many cases, there are incomplete and inaccurate editions of the writings of the great men and women of our country. In some distressing instances, we have only fragmentary records of men whose ideas and actions have helped shape our history.

I am convinced that we need to collect and publish the writings of the men and women who have made major contributions to the development of our democracy.

I am, therefore, requesting the National Historical Publications Commission, under the chairmanship of the Archivist of the United States, to look into this matter and to report to me. I am sure this Commission will wish to consult with scholars in all fields of American history, and to report what can be done--and should be done--to make available to our people the public and private writings of men whose contributions to our history are now inadequately represented by published works.

I am interested not just in political figures, but in the writings of industrialists and labor leaders, chemists and engineers, painters and lawyers, of great figures of all the arts and sciences who have made major contributions to our democracy.

Obviously, we cannot hope to collect, edit, and publish all the writings of all such leaders, but we can and should select the works of those who have been too long neglected and who need to be better known if we are to understand our heritage. This is a big undertaking. If will take a long time. It should be done as far as possible by private groups and not by the Federal Government, although the Federal Government can and will be of assistance whenever possible. The editions should be in every instance completely objective and should maintain the same high editorial standards that are evident in this first volume of "The Papers of Thomas Jefferson." They should aim to place the facts beyond debate and distortion.

At a time when democracy is meeting the greatest challenge in its history, we need to turn to the sources of our own democratic faith for new inspiration and new strength. These volumes of Thomas Jefferson will be a great reservoir of hope and faith during the critical years ahead. I sincerely hope that similar editions of the writings of other great men and women who have made our Nation what it is today can be placed with them.

President Dwight Eisenhower

May 24, 1955

Nothing has been so important to us as an informed public. As long ago as Jefferson's time he said were he forced to choose between a government without schools or schools without government, he would unhesitatingly take a civilization in which he had schools without government, well knowing that an informed public would soon discover the need for government and establish a proper one among themselves. And in the reverse case, he apparently did not know what might happen, because government with an uninformed public can be, as we know, very vicious…

Now, just a moment on my favorite subject. I quoted Jefferson to you but I think if Jefferson were alive today he would state the proposition in language so much more emphatic than he then used that you would scarcely recognize the similarity. Never was it so important as it is today that the American public is informed. We have burning questions abroad that stretch from a four-power conference around the world to the Indonesian crisis--the Indo China crisis. It is absolutely essential that the Americans know the actual facts of these problems. Moreover, that they be helped to gain an understanding of the relationship between these facts, because knowledge alone, necessarily--always remember--is not sufficient. We must understand…

I think today Jefferson's statement might be paraphrased to say: If I had to have international free communications or some kind of world government that could enforce the peace, I would unhesitatingly choose complete, free, international communications. And then we would be sure that we would find ways for sovereign nations to achieve man's age-old aspiration: peace among men with prosperity fairly shared by all.

President John F. Kennedy

April 29, 1962

Ladies and gentlemen:

I want to tell you [winners of the Nobel Prize] how welcome you are to the White House [for a celebration dinner]. I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.

Someone once said that Thomas Jefferson was a gentleman of 32 who could calculate an eclipse, survey an estate, tie an artery, plan an edifice, try a cause, break a horse, and dance the minuet. Whatever he may have lacked, if he could have had his former colleague, Mr. Franklin, here we all would have been impressed.

President Lyndon B. Johnson

March 15, 1965

The essence of our American tradition of State and local governments is the belief expressed by Thomas Jefferson that Government is best which is closest to the people. Yet that belief is betrayed by those State and local officials who engage in denying the right of citizens to vote. Their actions serve only to assure that their State governments and local governments shall be remote from the people, least representative of the people's will and least responsive to the people's wishes.

If there were no other reasons, the strengthening and protection of the vital role of State and local governments would be reasons enough to act against the denial of the right to vote for any of our citizens…

In our system, the first right and most vital of all our fights is the right to vote. Jefferson described the elective franchise as "the ark of our safety." It is from the exercise of this right that the guarantee of all our other rights flows.

July 23, 1966

I think if Thomas Jefferson, for whom I assume your community was named, could be here tonight he would like what I see.

You know Thomas Jefferson was the father of the Democratic Party. Thomas Jefferson felt that the judgment of the many was much to be preferred to the decision of the few.

I am so happy that we can come in here this late in the evening--it is 9 o'clock by a watch that was set in some State that we appeared in today; I don't know what time it is here--to see hundreds or thousands of people who think enough of their community, their State, and their country to come here and give us this welcome, and to participate in this civic affair.

Thomas Jefferson said that the care of human life and happiness is the first and only legitimate object of government. And that is what we have been doing today. We have been trying to show our concern for the care of human life and happiness. We have been trying to make it evident that it was the first and legitimate objective of this administration and of this Government.

We believe that we must be strong in order to protect the things that we have that other people would like to take away from us. And after seeing the headquarters of the 101st Airborne Division this afternoon, we have no doubt about our strength.

But we do not want to be strong in order to be able to wage or win wars. We want to be strong so we can prevent war and bring peace.

President Richard Nixon

August 26, 1960

I think Thomas Jefferson put it as well as anybody when he said that States should be left to do whatever acts they can do as well as the Federal Government. And I am proud to say that our platform is based on that Jeffersonian principle, while the platform of our opponents completely denies it…

But you see, the reason why we believe in strong local government, in strong State government, State responsibility, rather than turning over to the Federal Government is this: Jefferson knew this. The American people must be reminded of it. The best guarantee of freedom is local government and diffusion of power. And when you allow all the power to be centered in Washington you attack the very fundamentals of freedom itself.

October 3, 1960

When Thomas Jefferson lived, America was a weak country militarily, a weak country economically, but one of the strongest nations in the world. Why? Because she stood for something. Ideals that were bigger than America, ideals that Jefferson and his colleagues wrote into our Declaration of Independence and into our Constitution — our faith in God; our belief in the dignity of men; our belief in the right of all men to be free; our belief in the right of nations to be independent. These ideals caught the imagination of the world 180 years ago. They live today. They live in our hearts. They live abroad.

President Gerald Ford

April 13, 1976

Thank you very, very much, Secretary Kleppe. Captain Barnes, distinguished guests--including the fine choir from the College of William and Mary, Thomas Jefferson's alma mater--ladies and gentlemen:

Today we pay tribute to Thomas Jefferson. Two hundred years of American history have produced no man whose achievements are better known. In his own epitaph he cited just three--author of the Declaration of American Independence, author of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and father of the University of Virginia.

Had those been only his basic accomplishments, he would have earned his place in history and our unyielding gratitude. But we know Jefferson in other ways as well. We know the character of the man who embodied our national heritage by encompassing the spirit of pioneer and aristocrat, American and world citizen, the values of nature and the values of civilization.

In politics, we know him as a lawyer and as a legislator, as a member of the Continental Congress, Ambassador to France, our Nation's third President, and its first Secretary of State. In our national life, we know him as a scientist and agronomist, as an artist, architect, and inventor.

Thomas Jefferson's achievements range from our decimal system of coinage to the great area of our Nation itself, which he doubled through the Louisiana Purchase. But Thomas Jefferson's contribution to our Nation's history is far, far more than the sum of these diverse accomplishments. The very range of his interests has heightened his impact on later generations.

It is a quirk of history that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, both signers of the Declaration of Independence, died on July 4, 1826, 50 years to the day of its adoption. John Adams' last words were, "Jefferson still lives." History shows Adams was wrong, because Jefferson had died a mere 5 hours earlier. But history also has confirmed Adams' words, because Thomas Jefferson lives in each of us.

We are all his successors, and it is up to us, not history, to see that Jefferson's faith survives. Great citizens and their great thoughts are not just for their own time but forever. And Jefferson's true importance lies in the fact that he continues to speak of the American experience.

In every generation, Americans have turned to Jefferson for comfort and inspiration. They have found new meanings, often conflicting meanings, in his words. In their search for Jefferson's spirit, Americans have sought themselves. To Abraham Lincoln, the principles of Jefferson were the definitions and axioms of free society, a society he was struggling to preserve. And Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, gave those principles new significance.

Three generations later, another great American leader, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, locked in another war for freedom, dedicated this memorial as a shrine to freedom. On the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth, he called for a commitment to Jefferson's cause not by words alone, but by sacrifice.

In this 200th year of the Nation Jefferson helped to found, it seems our America has changed so much that when we compare it with Jefferson's America, the differences are more striking than the similarities. We are no longer a young, isolated, agricultural nation, but an industrial giant in a nuclear age.

Thomas Jefferson would have been the first to recognize that different times demand different policies. He stressed that the Earth belongs always to the living generation. In our Bicentennial Year, we turn once again to Jefferson's words and find them surprisingly modern. Jefferson's principle of limited government, his concern about excessive centralization of governmental power at the expense of State and local responsibility and individual freedom are as much a part of the debate of 1976 as they were in 1776.

I believe that in this debate, the wisdom and the philosophy of Jefferson will prevail. We find he believed that not every difference of opinion is a difference of principle and that he tolerated error in the confidence that truth would triumph.

Jefferson was a fervent believer in freedom of the press. Although harshly attacked and often vilified, he maintained an unfettered press was essential to American freedom. We find the meaning of democracy in his immortal words, 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, which equal laws must protect."

We find he put his trust in the people whom he believed to be basically moderate, patriotic, and freedom-loving. And we find above all else his love for freedom and independence. Today, we recognize this in two symbolic gestures.

Jefferson's belief in the freedom and independence of the human mind we honor today by an act of Congress, which names one building of the Library of Congress after him. And Jefferson's belief in the freedom and independence of the American people we honor today by an act of Congress, which designates today as Thomas Jefferson Day.

I believe as we move into our third century of independence, there will be an even greater emphasis by our people to find ways and means to meet our needs, while limiting the role of government in the classical Jeffersonian sense. I see the third century of American independence as a century of individualism. I see it as a century of personal achievement and fulfillment for all Americans.

Let us honor Thomas Jefferson this year and throughout the next century of our independence by weaving into our national life the qualities, the talents, and the ideals which were the warp and woof of his.

Let us practice the responsible individualism, and thereby pay tribute to the man we commemorate here. Let us dedicate ourselves to achievement, so that we may make this country what it has the potential to be. Let us maintain for America its rightful place of leadership in the councils of nations of the world. Let us extend the boundaries of human freedom here at home and beyond our shores. Let us accept and discharge the responsibility as a people upon whom providence has bestowed so much. Let us be enlightened as a nation with appreciation for learning, for reason, and for justice for all our people.

In this way, my fellow Americans, we shall pay honor to the man from Monticello. It is now my honor to sign two pieces of legislation relating to Thomas Jefferson. I would like to ask the Members of Congress present to join me at the signing table.

It is now my pleasure to sign House Joint Resolution 670, designating April 13 as Thomas Jefferson Day. Representative Bob McClory was the principal sponsor, and so as I sign this, I will give him this pen and we will distribute the others.

Now, it is my honor to sign S. 2920, the legislation which officially designates the Library of Congress Annex as the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building. And I think on this occasion, it would be appropriate to give this pen to the senior Senator from Virginia, the Honorable Harry Byrd.

Thank you.

President Jimmy Carter

October 3, 1980

One of Virginia's greatest sons, about whom I think frequently, living in the White House, Thomas Jefferson, set forth the dream of a system of general education which shall reach every description of our citizens from the richest to the poorest. Making Jefferson's dream live and come true has been the business of our Nation under Presidents and Congresses of both parties…

We Americans do not fear competition in the marketplace of ideas. We do not repress those who have a different ideology from us. We do not stifle competing thoughts. Instead we followed Jefferson's advice, "Enlighten the people generally," he said, "and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits in the dawn of a new day."

We often bear the argument that education deserves our support because it contributes to the economic strength of our Nation. That's certainly true. But the real meaning of education goes far beyond that, much deeper. In its broadest sense, education, the question of understanding and knowledge of ourselves, our fellow human beings and God's universe, is not a means to some end, but rather an end in itself.

Education and liberty are part of the same search for truth, and education and liberty are unthinkable without each other. Let me quote Jefferson once more. "The education of the people," he wrote, "can alone make them the safe, as they are the sole repository of our political and religious freedom." So, political and religious freedom depend upon education.

President Ronald Reagan

October 19, 1980

The home in which Nancy and I are temporarily living in the Virginia countryside during this campaign is only a relatively short distance away from the home of a great American President, Thomas Jefferson.

In his first Inaugural Address, Jefferson spoke of "the preservation of the general government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet-anchor of our peace at home and our safety abroad." He knew that peace in the world depended on the strength of our nation in its "whole constitutional vigor."

Jefferson loved America and the cause of peace too – too much ever to give in or appeal to fear and doubt.

October 9, 1981

Whenever I find my battery is running down, I like to go over to the monument, not so far from here, erected to the memory of that great American patriot who wrote down in immortal words the fundamental faith and philosophy which gave our Nation its birth and its greatness, Thomas Jefferson.

You've been there. And on the corona, in giant letters above his head, are these words of his personal declaration: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

Now, that, to the best of my ability, has been the basic standard by which I tried to judge which of the various solutions being offered for this, that, or the other difficult problem for our country was right or nearest right. And that's what we're trying to do in retirement.

October 18, 1981 7:30pm

I wish I could take the time to salute all the rest of you individually, but where would I begin? If I may paraphrase a former President, this is the most extraordinary collection of human talent ever to gather in Williamsburg since Thomas Jefferson walked these streets alone.

October 18, 1981 10pm

Stirring news spread the world over as soon as Jefferson included the right to happiness as one of the main requirements of your Declaration of Independence. And at that time men of all continents and men of all countries gradually began to understand that this concerned them, each one of them, and all of them.

Now, a number of them, and indeed some of us, still have to appreciate that there can be no possible happiness where there is neither justice nor liberty. Like many others, I devoted part of my life, the best part of my life, to freedom, true freedom.

February 9, 1982

America's elderly are a wise and a very precious resource, and we should always honor them and never set them aside. I know that people in that generation—in our generation— [laughter] —are sometimes a bit sensitive about their age. I was kidded myself again last week, as I celebrated the 32d anniversary of my 39th birthday. But then I remembered something that Thomas Jefferson said. He said that we should never judge a President by his age; we should judge him by his work. And ever since he told me that, I've stopped— [laughter] —I've stopped worrying. I have increased the workload a little. [Laughter]

February 22, 1982

We still have that in America. As Americans, let us all rededicate ourselves to the ideals that George Washington set. Let us give of ourselves so that when our time is through, history may say of us what Thomas Jefferson said of him: Their integrity was the most pure and their justice the most inflexible we have ever known. They were in every sense of the word a wise and a great people.

I believe we still are. And because I believe in you, I believe we will be tomorrow. God bless America, and thank you very much.

March 15, 1982

We still have that in America. As Americans, let us all rededicate ourselves to the ideals that George Washington set. Let us give of ourselves so that when our time is through, history may say of us what Thomas Jefferson said of him: Their integrity was the most pure and their justice the most inflexible we have ever known. They were in every sense of the word a wise and a great people.

I believe we still are. And because I believe in you, I believe we will be tomorrow. God bless America, and thank you very much.

March 18, 1982

You know, some people think there's a storm brewing between me and the news industry. That simply isn't true. My feelings about the media haven't changed a bit. [Laughter] No. [Applause] No. No, I have always been and always will be in complete agreement with Thomas Jefferson on this subject. He said, "If it were left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." Of course, he also said, "Perhaps the editor might divide his paper into four chapters, heading the first 'truths'; second, 'probabilities'; third, 'possibilities'; fourth, 'lies'." [Laughter]
As I say, I always agree with Jefferson.

My real point is this. Presidents, even Thomas Jefferson, have their moods just like everyone else, including members of the press. Some of the things we say and do regarding each other may cause a little momentary frustration or misunderstanding, but that's all it is. So, I hope I didn't touch a nerve with any of the press a few days ago, because I think that most of the time the overwhelming majority of them are doing a fine job. And as a former reporter, columnist, and commentator myself, I know just how tough their job can be.

March 22, 1982

Now I can say I've met the one group that hears as many complaints as I do. I think it was Thomas Jefferson who said that farmers are God's chosen people, but nowadays they must be asking, chosen for what? I've always thought that when we Americans get up in the morning and see bacon and eggs and toast and milk on the table, we should give thanks that American farmers are survivors. They're the real miracle workers of the modern world. They're keepers of an incredible system based on faith, freedom, and hard work that feeds us and sustains millions of the world's hungry as well.

March 23, 1982

Our democratic process is strengthened by the free flow and free competition of ideas. In the words of Thomas Jefferson, "We are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it." In the final analysis, under the Constitution, the President and the Congress must determine national policy and the national interest. But every citizen and every citizens' group is guaranteed the right to speak out, and must be encouraged to do so without fear of reprisal or defamation. No group should be bullied into silence by racial or ethnic slurs, or the fear of them. The language of hate—the obscenity of anti-Semitism and racism—must have no part in our national dialog.

April 13, 1982

Thomas Jefferson remains one of the towering figures in American history 239 years after his birth. Statesman, scholar, inventor, farmer, and philosopher, he was, first and foremost, a champion of individual liberty. Throughout his life he was a tireless advocate of free expression and the sanctity of property, for he knew that, to be whole, freedom must be economic as well as political.

Thomas Jefferson also knew that too much government threatened human rights. "What has destroyed liberty and the rights of man in every government that has ever existed under the Sun?" he asked. And he answered, "The generalizing and concentrating all cares and powers into one body." Limited government, in a sound Federal system with essential powers properly distributed among local, State, and national bodies was his goal. For all governments his admonition was straightforward: "A wise and frugal government," he declared in his first Inaugural Address, "... shall restrain men from injuring one another,... shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned."

Much has changed in the last two centuries, but the principles Thomas Jefferson espoused still lie at the heart of our democratic society. May his 239th birthday be a time of national renewal when we commit ourselves anew to the proud, free heritage Jefferson bequeathed us.

May 10, 1982

Thomas Jefferson, the author of liberty, the father of our freedom, once wrote, "I deem it the duty of every man to devote a certain portion of his income for charitable purposes; and that it is his further duty to see it so applied as to do the most good of which it is capable." Jefferson knew well the relationship between the responsibility of which we speak today and the freedom of our people.

July 6, 1982

Now, I'm going to be very brief here in my remarks, because I think we're going to have a dialog rather than my go on talking. But, you know, traveling the mashed potato circuit for many years—and I know that many of you have done the same thing—I have often quoted Thomas Jefferson in my protestations, then, against government intervention and big government, particularly, intervening. His line when he said-"Were we directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want for bread." And yet I never have put that—I had put that in the context of—as I'm sure many of you have—of intervention by, particularly, the Federal Government in things that were not its proper province. Would you like to hear that put in the context in which he said it?—because it's even more timely than it was in that supposed context in which I myself used it and perhaps many of you.

"Were not this great country already divided into states, that division must be made, that each might do for itself what concerns itself directly and what it can do so much better than distant authority. Every state is again divided into counties, each to take care of what lies within its local bounds; each county again into townships or wards to handle minute details. Were we directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want for bread."

So, we can claim that Jefferson was the first one to present the present Federal program.

July 19, 1982

"Crisis" is a much abused word today. But can we deny that we face a crisis? Thomas Jefferson warned, "The public debt is the greatest of dangers to be feared." He believed that it was wrong and immoral for one generation to forever burden the generations yet to come. His philosophy prevailed for the first 150 years of our history.

September 15, 1982

Putting the American economy back on the right track has clearly been the top priority of this administration. But I think it's important for all of us to understand that at the same time we haven't forgotten the Federal commitment to civil rights. Thomas Jefferson once said that no man ever leaves the Presidency with as good a reputation as he brought into the job. [Laughter] Well, that's because even in Jefferson's day there was a constant barrage of wild, politically motivated charges aimed at the man in the White House. Well, usually I try to ignore personal attacks, but one charge I will have to admit strikes at my heart every time I hear it. That's the suggestion that we Republicans are taking a less active approach to protecting the civil rights of all Americans. No matter how you slice it, that's just plain baloney.

December 16, 1982

Back in the days before we had satellites and electronic hookups, Thomas Jefferson put it this way: "The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."

Well now, I couldn't help noticing something about that kind remark that Jefferson made about the press. [Laughter] He made it before he was President— [laughter] —not during his term.

As long as information, though, can flow freely, America can grow and thrive, and democracy itself will be stronger than before. This principle that Jefferson championed is reflected in Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

February 23, 1983

Dr. Dumas Malone.

And the [President Medal of Freedom] will be accepted by his son, Gifford Malone.

As one of the foremost historians, authors, and scholars of this century, Dumas Malone has recounted the birth of our Nation and the ideals of our Founding Fathers. Among Dr. Malone's most notable accomplishments is his biography of Thomas Jefferson, now regarded as the most authoritative work of its kind. Dr. Malone's contributions to our national lore will remain invaluable to succeeding generations as each takes up responsibility for the heritage of freedom so eloquently described in his articles and books.

March 12, 1983

Broad educational opportunity not only secured our role as the pathbreaker to progress, it also protected and strengthened our freedom. We were wise enough to heed Thomas Jefferson's warning that "any nation which expects to be ignorant and free expects what never was and never will be."

May 9, 1983

Even two centuries ago, the Founding Fathers understood this. They anticipated the danger. John Adams wrote that government tends to run every contingency into an excuse for enhancing power in government. And Thomas Jefferson put it more directly when he predicted happiness for America but only "if we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them... "

August 1, 1983

Well, we respect the gentleman who has led your organization with vision and skill-Morris Harrell. As you all know, there are a lot of jokes—as I just tried one—with lawyers as the target. Thomas Jefferson reportedly blamed his problems with the Congress on a hundred lawyers whose trade it is, as he said, "to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour." [Laughter]

December 9, 1983

Americans have long honored the gift of liberty. So it is with glad hearts and thankful minds that on Bill of Rights Day we recognize the special benefits of freedom bequeathed to posterity by the Founding Fathers. They had a high regard for the liberty of all humanity as reflected by Thomas Jefferson when he wrote in 1787, "A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth." In this century alone thousands of Americans have laid down their lives on distant battlefields in Europe, Asia, Africa, and in our Western Hemisphere itself in defense of the basic human rights.

December 14, 1983

I think any deficit is too much. I've been preaching for the last quarter of a century or more that government-well, we should have had the rule that Jefferson advocated back in his day when he said that the one thing lacking in the Constitution was a rule that the Federal Government could not borrow a penny.

February 6, 1984

But some peoples, like our Founding Fathers, revolted under such oppression. No one would understand better the danger of unchecked government power than those men. "I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive," Jefferson said.

February 26, 1984

This room is often used for state dinners honoring visiting heads of state, and it's fitting that we, too, share this room in recognition that you are also heads of sovereign States. Our Federal system of sovereign States is today as vital to the preservation of freedom as it was in the time of Jefferson and Adams and those other farsighted individuals we revere as our Founding Fathers.

They envisioned a system that would secure the greatest degree of liberty, while at the same time be functional and efficient. They knew well that if too much power and authority were vested in the central government, even if intended for a noble purpose, not only would liberty be threatened but it just wouldn't work.

Jefferson warned, "Were we directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want for bread." [Laughter] I think during the last decade and before, we've gotten a taste of just what it was that Jefferson was warning us about. So much power had centralized in Washington that frustration and stagnation ruled the day. The Federal Government taxed away the available revenue and set up a confusing web of regulations and bureaucratic controls to be complied with in order to get these resources back. Furthermore, the rules and restrictions, to a large degree, were coming from faraway, unelected officials. This neither worked, nor was it consistent with principles of American freedom.

March 22, 1984

We look out over the White House grounds, and we see evidence that the bond between us is deep and has stood the tests of time. There in the distance is the Jefferson Memorial, a tribute to America's third President, a founder of our republic, an intellectual whose ideas were profoundly influenced by his exposure to French philosophy and culture. It is not mere coincidence that this giant of American freedom was one of our first representatives to France.

May 2, 1984

Few have understood better than our nation's Founding Fathers that claims of human dignity transcend the claims of any government, and that this transcendent right itself has a transcendent source. Our Declaration of Independence four times acknowledges our country's dependence on a Supreme Being, and its principal author and one of our greatest Presidents, Thomas Jefferson, put it simply: "The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time."

May 15, 1984

President Thomas Jefferson, a man so important to the development of human liberty, outlined in his first inaugural address some of the aspirations of our new republic. Although spoken 183 years ago, the words still ring true. Our desire in foreign affairs, he said, was "equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations.”

May 22, 1984

As a free and democratic people, we depend on the sound judgment of our fellow citizens. Quality education contributes in a major way to that judgment. There are few more important issues before us, for, as Thomas Jefferson once wrote: "I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them but to inform their discretion."

June 4, 1984

History is the work of free men and women, not unalterable laws. It is never inevitable, but it does have directions and trends; and one trend is clear—democracies are not only increasing in number, they're growing in strength. Today they're strong enough to give the cause of freedom growing room and breathing space, and that's all that freedom ever really needs. "The mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs." Thomas Jefferson said that. Freedom is the flagship of the future and the flashfire of the future. Its spark ignites the deepest and noblest aspirations of the human soul.

Those who think the Western democracies are trying to roll back history are missing the point. History is moving in the direction of self-government and the human dignity that it institutionalizes, and the future belongs to the free.

June 19, 1984

Thomas Jefferson, whom I mentioned a few minutes ago on the business of governing, also had some wise things to say about the business of living. When he was advising his nephew what path he should follow to find success, he reminded him that he must pursue his own and his country's best interests with what he called the "purest integrity, the most chaste honor. Make these then," he said, "your first object. Give up money, give up fame, give up science, give the earth itself and all it contains rather than do an immoral act. And never suppose that in any possible situation or under any circumstances that it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing, however slightly so it may appear to you."

January 21, 1985 11:49am

Two of our Founding Fathers, a Boston lawyer named Adams and a Virginia planter named Jefferson, members of that remarkable group who met in Independence Hall and dared to think they could start the world over again, left us an important lesson. They had become, in the years then in government, bitter political rivals in the Presidential election of 1800. Then, years later, when both were retired and age had softened their anger, they began to speak to each other again through letters. A bond was reestablished between those two who had helped create this government of ours.

In 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, they both died. They died on the same day, within a few hours of each other, and that day was the Fourth of July.

In one of those letters exchanged in the sunset of their lives, Jefferson wrote: "It carries me back to the times when, beset with difficulties and dangers, we were fellow laborers in the same cause, struggling for what is most valuable to man, his right of self-government. Laboring always at the same oar, with some wave ever ahead threatening to overwhelm us, and yet passing harmless... we rode through the storm with heart and hand."

Well, with heart and hand let us stand as one today—one people under God, determined that our future shall be worthy of our past. As we do, we must not repeat the well-intentioned errors of our past. We must never again abuse the trust of working men and women by sending their earnings on a futile chase after the spiraling demands of a bloated Federal Establishment.

January 21, 1985 3:18pm

Thomas Jefferson once said: "How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of and which no other people on Earth enjoy." Well, today we can rejoice that more and more people on Earth are moving toward democracy, and we can rejoice that America, a nation still young compared to so many others, is the oldest, most successful republic on Earth.

February 20, 1985

Of course, there have been a few changes in diplomacy since then. [Laughter] And I'm told there is a memorandum surviving in the Smithsonian from President Jefferson to his Secretary of State in which he wrote as follows: "We haven't heard anything from our Ambassador to France for three years." [Laughter] "If we don't hear from him this year"— [laughter] —"let us write him a letter." [Laughter]

March 4, 1985

Now, in speaking of our fiscal 1986 Federal budget, let me remind you of an observation by Thomas Jefferson: The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.

April 23, 1985

During colonial days, Americans were dependent on the river systems and ocean ports still used in commerce today. President Thomas Jefferson commissioned Lewis and Clark to explore the West through our rivers, providing new opportunities for trade and commerce. In 1825, the Erie Canal, connecting Buffalo to New York, opened the Great Lakes for settlement and industry.

May 27, 1985

And let's recognize the truth that Fidel Castro is behind much of the trouble in Central America. His consuming hatred of America and his ideological commitment to Communist tyranny has impoverished his country and oppressed its people. Thomas Jefferson once wrote, "Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day." Well, the Communists understand this, and that's why they're deathly afraid of the free flow of information.

August 10, 1985

Those brave Americans who fought in the Pacific four decades ago were fighting for a better world. They believed in America and often they gave the last full measure of devotion. One such man was Marine Lieutenant David Tucker Brown from Alexandria, Virginia. While in the Pacific, he wrote home: "I am more than ever convinced that this is Thomas Jefferson's war, the war of the common man against tyranny and pride. It is really a war for democracy and not for power or materialism." Well, Lieutenant Brown was later killed in action in Okinawa, one of so many brave and courageous young Americans who made the supreme sacrifice.

I think if those brave men were with us today they'd be proud of what has been accomplished. At war's end, with victory in hand, we looked forward, not back. We lived up to our ideals, the ideals of heroes like Lieutenant David Tucker Brown. And we worked with our former enemies to build a new and better world, a world of freedom and opportunity. That's the America we're all so proud of.

August 24, 1985

A recent Gallup Poll found that an overwhelming majority of Americans want their schools to do two things above all else: to teach students how to speak and write correctly and, just as important, to teach them a standard of right and wrong. They want their schools to help their children develop, as Thomas Jefferson said, "both an honest heart and a knowing head." Unfortunately, parents today all too often find themselves confronted with so-called experts and a large battery of misguided opinion that says their children's education should be what they call value-neutral. Well, to me, and I bet most Americans, a value-neutral education is a contradiction in terms. The American people have always known in their bones how intimately knowledge and values are intertwined. We don't expect our children to rediscover calculus on their own, but some would give them no guidance when it comes to the even more fundamental discoveries of civilization: our ethics, morality, and values. If we give our children no guidance here, if we give them only a value-neutral education, we're robbing them of their most precious inheritance-the wisdom of generations that is contained in our moral heritage.

October 4, 1985

But the GOP is, in my view, the party of the American family; the party whose tax reform proposals, to touch on another subject, would expand the personal exemption, increase the standard deduction, and make IRA's—you know, those are those individual retirement accounts—equally available to those who work both inside and outside the home. The GOP is the party that adheres to the old Jeffersonian philosophy that that government governs best that governs least. Incidentally, Thomas Jefferson made a little-known statement about the Constitution just about the time it was being ratified. He said it only had one flaw: It did not contain a provision preventing the Federal Government from borrowing money. [Laughter] Well, we're going to make Tom Jefferson, wherever he is, happy. [Laughter]

October 10, 1985

So, we've just got to rely on the media to get the information out to the American people. Let them hear the facts and let the American people decide for themselves. A fellow named Thomas Jefferson once said, "If the people know all the facts, the people will never make a mistake."

November 14, 1985

In advancing freedom, we Americans carry a special burden—a belief in the dignity of man in the sight of the God who gave birth to this country. This is central to our being. A century and a half ago, Thomas Jefferson told the world, "The mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs… "Freedom is America's core. We must never deny it nor forsake it. Should the day come when we Americans remain silent in the face of armed aggression, then the cause of America, the cause of freedom, will have been lost and the great heart of this country will have been broken. This affirmation of freedom is not only our duty as Americans, it's essential for success at Geneva.

December 2, 1985

I'm confident that if we remain firm in our convictions, realistic in our approach, and strong enough to defend our interests, the competition that we have with the Soviets can remain peaceful. Jefferson is quoted as saying, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." Well, it's as true today as it was two centuries ago.

But just as in Jefferson's day, Americans are preparing themselves for great strides forward. Our technological advances of the last four decades are only the foundation for a new era that is almost beyond imagination. We have just given thanks as a nation to God for all our many blessings, but we should be also grateful for this bright future that lies just over the horizon.

January 24, 1986

And that's when I think we should have a constitutional amendment that says from here on, it'll always be a balanced budget. And when we get that, I'm going down there to the Jefferson Memorial to see if that statue of Tom is smiling. [Laughter] Because he's the first person that ever remarked about that. At the ratification of the Constitution, Thomas Jefferson very eloquently said it has only one glaring omission: "It does not have a prohibition against the Federal Government borrowing money." So, let's catch up with him.

April 9, 1986

Question: Well, sir, would you say, then, that your remarks about liberals and your critics in the media are just a normal part of the ongoing dialog and exchange in the marketplace of ideas?

President Ronald Reagan: Well, I'm sorry you took that yourself. I was very careful to say critics and stop there. And there's a good share of the 535 on Capitol Hill—and they aren't connected to press—that are critics. And so, in front of this audience, I wasn't going to actually tag my critics as being of the press. [Laughter] No, I recognize the right, and I go along with Thomas Jefferson. I will protect and believe in a free press. I could say there is a section of the press that takes me on regularly, but it's a controlled press: Pravda and TASS. And I don't defend them at all.

April 22, 1986

Thomas Jefferson called motherhood "the keystone of the arch of matrimonial happiness," and we must always remember that with love, strength, and fortitude, the American mother assisted in the settlement, development, and prosperity of our country. Her contributions to the well-being of the family, the community, and the Nation are beyond all reckoning.

June 6, 1986

As Americans, we're the arsenal for democracy, the keepers of the flame that Jefferson wrote about when he penned these words: "... the flames kindled on the Fourth of July, 1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism."

June 19, 1986

So, I have come here today to say that the Glassboro summit was not enough, that indeed the Geneva summit was not enough, that talk alone, in short, is not enough. I've come here to invite Mr. Gorbachev to join me in taking action—action in the name of peace. My friends, let us dare to dream that when you return for your own son or daughter's graduation, you'll do so in a world at peace, a world that celebrates human liberty, and a world free from the terror of nuclear destruction. And let us work first my generation, then soon, very soon, your own—to make that dream come true.

But here again, mere words convey so little. There are moments, indeed, when those of my generation fear that your youth and health and good fortune will prove too much for us—too much for us who must tell you that good fortune is not all that life can present, that this good fortune has come to you because others have suffered and sacrificed, that to preserve it there will come times when you, too, must sacrifice. Then our fears are dispelled. It happens when we turn from our own thoughts to look at you. We see such strength and hope, such buoyancy, such good will, such straightforward and uncomplicated happiness. And if we listen, before long we hear joyful laughter. And we know then that God has already blessed you and that America has already imprinted the love of peace and freedom on your hearts. We look at you, and no matter how full our own lives have been, we say with Thomas Jefferson, "I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past."

July 4, 1986

All through our history, our Presidents and leaders have spoken of national unity and warned us that the real obstacle to moving forward the boundaries of freedom, the only permanent danger to the hope that is America, comes from within. It's easy enough to dismiss this as a kind of familiar exhortation. Yet the truth is that even two of our greatest Founding Fathers, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, once learned this lesson late in life. They'd worked so closely together in Philadelphia for independence. But once that was gained and a government was formed, something called partisan politics began to get in the way. After a bitter and divisive campaign, Jefferson defeated Adams for the Presidency in 1800. And the night before Jefferson's inauguration, Adams slipped away to Boston, disappointed, brokenhearted, and bitter.

For years their estrangement lasted. But then when both had retired, Jefferson at 68 to Monticello and Adams at 76 to Quincy, they began through their letters to speak again to each other. Letters that discussed almost every conceivable subject: gardening, horseback riding, even sneezing as a cure for hiccups; but other subjects as well: the loss of loved ones, the mystery of grief and sorrow, the importance of religion, and of course the last thoughts, the final hopes of two old men, two great patriarchs, for the country that they had helped to found and loved so deeply. "It carries me back," Jefferson wrote about correspondence with his cosigner of the Declaration of Independence, "to the times when, beset with difficulties and dangers, we were fellow laborers in the same cause, struggling for what is most valuable to man, his right to self-government. Laboring always at the same oar, with some wave ever ahead threatening to overwhelm us and yet passing harmless… we rowed through the storm with heart and hand... "It was their last gift to us, this lesson in brotherhood, in tolerance for each other, this insight into America's strength as a nation. And when both died on the same day within hours of each other, that date was July 4th, 50 years exactly after that first gift to us, the Declaration of Independence.

My fellow Americans, it falls to us to keep faith with them and all the great Americans of our past. Believe me, if there's one impression I carry with me after the privilege of holding for 5 1/2 years the office held by Adams and Jefferson and Lincoln, it is this: that the things that unite us—America's past of which we're so proud, our hopes and aspirations for the future of the world and this much-loved country—these things far outweigh what little divides us. And so tonight we reaffirm that Jew and gentile, we are one nation under God; that black and white, we are one nation indivisible; that Republican and Democrat, we are all Americans. Tonight, with heart and hand, through whatever trial and travail, we pledge ourselves to each other and to the cause of human freedom, the cause that has given light to this land and hope to the world.

September 26, 1986

Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, for example, disagreed on most of the great issues of their day, just as many have disagreed in ours. They helped begin our long tradition of loyal opposition, of standing on opposite sides of almost every question while still working together for the good of the country. And yet for all their differences, they both agreed—as should be—on the importance of judicial restraint. "Our peculiar security," Jefferson warned, "is in the possession of a written Constitution." And he made this appeal: "Let us not make it a blank paper by construction." Hamilton, Jefferson, and all the Founding Fathers recognized that the Constitution is the supreme and ultimate expression of the will of the American people. They saw that no one in office could remain above it, if freedom were to survive through the ages. They understood that, in the words of James Madison, if "the sense in which the Constitution was accepted and ratified by the nation is not the guide to expounding it, there can be no security for a faithful exercise of its powers."

October 1, 1986

On the contrary, in a certain sense we can be proud of our differences, because they arise from good will itself—from love of country; for concern for the challenges of our time; from respect for, and yes, even outright enjoyment of, the democratic processes of disagreement and debate. Indeed, from the time of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, frank debate has been a part of the tradition of this Republic. Today our very differences attest to the greatness of our nation. For I can think of no other country on Earth where two political leaders could disagree so widely yet come together in mutual respect. To paraphrase Mr. Jefferson: We are all Democrats, we are all Republicans, because we are all Americans.

October 22, 1986

The United States has taken positive steps to stop the onslaught of terrorism against civilized society. We will continue to do so, because we keep in mind the value and dignity of every human being and the commission that Thomas Jefferson expressed so well when he wrote, "The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government."

December 10, 1986

When talking about human rights, we're not referring to abstract theory or ungrounded philosophy. Jefferson, who penned our great Declaration of Independence, years later wrote: "Freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of the person under the protection of habeas corpus and trial by juries impartially selected-these principles form the bright constellation which has guided our steps through an age of revolution and transformation." Well, our country does not have an unblemished record. We've had to overcome our shortcomings and ensure equal justice for all. And yet we can be proud that respect for the rights of the individual has been an essential element, a basic principle, if you will, of American Government.

January 13, 1987

Thomas Jefferson believed that the rebels' activities were motivated by "ignorance, not wickedness." He pointed out that the majority of the people of Massachusetts had sided with the government, and he concluded that "the good sense of the people will always be found to be the best army."

January 24, 1987

It's the Constitution itself—article II, section 3—that mandates the President to inform Congress regarding the state of the American Union and to recommend measures that he considers, in the Constitution's words, "necessary and expedient." President Washington appeared before Congress personally each year to offer his account of national problems and prospects. In 1801 President Jefferson was eager to show how different America was from Britain, where Parliament was opened by the monarch, so he put the practice of appearing in person to an end, substituting instead a written message. Presidents continued to send Congress written messages for more than a century, until in 1913 Woodrow Wilson revived the practice of delivering the message in person. Since Franklin Roosevelt seized upon the idea with his customary relish, no President has missed the opportunity to present his proposals before Congress face-to-face.

February 11, 1987

Someone sent me a little item that must have appeared in print someplace. It was in print, it was just cut out, and I don't know where it appeared or anything. But it did give us pause to think. Just a little short thing, and it said: "In an earlier day in America, people lived well, they had plenty to eat, they were independent, they were free, and then the white man came." [Laughter] Well, Thomas Jefferson once wrote: "He knows most who knows how little he knows." In the area of welfare, I think it's clear today that it's time for those of us in Washington to face up to how little we know. You good people have just shown the truth of what columnist William Raspberry wrote recently, that good ideas come not from "Washington, where the headlines are, but out in the country, where the action is."

June 1, 1987

You know, Thomas Jefferson once wrote a friend to say that our Constitution represented "unquestionably, the wisest ever yet presented to men." Well, right about here, you probably think I'm going to say there's no truth to the rumor that I was the friend he was writing the letter to. [Laughter] But history has certainly borne out Mr. Jefferson's judgment. Through two centuries now, our Constitution has proven a source of strength, stability, and unerring wisdom, serving longer than any other written constitution in the world. Think of that: Young as our country is, we're really, though, the oldest republic in the world. I know that, what with some of the budget bills, Presidents have days when they think the Constitution created one branch of government too many. But seriously, the Constitution has blessed us with what I have to believe is the finest Government in history.

July 3, 1987

If you would excuse me for a moment, I see that the uniform of the day has already been decided on. [At this point, the President removed his jacket.] Well, the Vice President and distinguished guests, members of the administration and members of the team, before starting, I would like to thank Ollie delChamps, chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the rest of you from the chamber for all your help on this event and all the help you've been over the years.

In 1776 John Adams predicted in a letter to his wife that every year the people of the United States would joyously celebrate their nation's independence with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of the continent, he said, to the other. Well, tomorrow on the Fourth, it is easy to predict that the festivities and merriment that Adams foresaw, will be apparent throughout the width and breadth of our country. Many of you may look back, as I do, on the fond memory of last year when together we rededicated our beautiful lady, standing there with torch held high in New York Harbor. One of the opportunities this job affords me, and one for which I am most grateful, is representing you, my fellow countrymen, at such ceremonial events as the rededication of the Statute of Liberty, the marking of the D-day landings in Normandy, and now, this year, the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Constitution of the United States—remembrances that have a special place in the hearts of all who love liberty.

It is this love of liberty, at the heart of our national identity, that celebrates our separation [separates our celebration] of independence from those of most other nations. It's what made the struggle of our forefathers, a little over 200 years ago, different from any conflict that has ever happened before. Down through history, there have been many revolutions, but virtually all of them only exchanged one set of rulers for another set of rulers. Ours was the only truly philosophical revolution. It declared that government would have only those powers granted to it by the people.

It was a 33-year-old Thomas Jefferson who penned the words and constructed the phrases that captured the essence of it all. He wrote: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,—that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it... "These inspired ideals are written on the walls of this memorial.

It was this revolutionary concept of representative government and individual rights, as well as the cause of national independence, to which the Declaration's signers pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. Each generation has done the same, and tomorrow we'll make that pledge again. Let no one charge, however, that ours is blind nationalism. We do not hide our shortcomings. Yes, we have our imperfections, but there are no people on this planet who have more reason to hold their heads high than do the citizens of the United States of America.

Our countrymen have the courage of conviction and an uncommon commitment to truth and justice; we as a people will not bow before dictator or king, but we kneel in prayer and gratefully acknowledge, as Jefferson so eloquently stated, that the God who gave us life also gave us liberty. Our society reflects decent and humane values that were passed to us by the settlers of a new land; Americans can be counted on to be generous—it's our way. We know these things, and we also know the United States of America remains the greatest force for human freedom on this planet, and we're darn proud of it.

We're still Jefferson's children, still believers that freedom is the unalienable right of all of God's children. It's so precious, yet freedom is not something that can be touched, heard, seen, or smelled. It surrounds us, and if it were not present, as accustomed to it as we are, we would be alarmed, overwhelmed by outrage, or perhaps struck by a sense of being smothered. The air we breathe is also invisible and taken for granted, yet if it is denied even for a few seconds, we realize instantly how much it means to us. Well, so, too, with freedom.

Freedom is not created by government, nor is it a gift from those in political power. It is, in fact, secured, more than anything else, by those limitations I mentioned that are placed on those in government. It is absence of the government censor in our newspapers and broadcast stations and universities. It is the lack of fear by those who gather in religious services. It is the absence of official abuse of those who speak up against the policies of their government.

I'm a collector of stories that I can establish are told in the Soviet Union among their own people, showing something of their feeling about their situation. And one of these that I heard recently was an argument between an American and a Soviet citizen. And the American had said how he could stand down on a corner and shout right out to everybody his criticism of the Government. And the Soviet citizen said, "I can do that, too." He said, "The only difference between us is you will still be free after you've done it." [Laughter]

Jefferson so fervently believed that limited government was vital to the preservation of liberty that he used his influence to see to it that the Constitution included a Bill of Rights, 10 amendments that spelled out specific governmental limitations. "Congress shall make no law," the first amendment begins. And thus, the basic law of our land was meticulously constructed to limit government and, in doing so, secure the political rights of the freedom [people].

Inextricably linked to these political freedoms are protections for the economic freedoms envisioned by those Americans who went before us. While the Constitution sets our political freedoms in greater detail, these economic freedoms are part and parcel of it. During this bicentennial year, we have the opportunity to recognize anew the economic freedoms of our people and, with the Founding Fathers, declare them as sacred and sacrosanct as the political freedoms of speech, press, religion, and assembly. There are four essential economic freedoms. They are what links life inseparably to liberty, what enables an individual to control his own destiny, what makes self-government and personal independence part of the American experience.

First is the freedom to work—to pursue one's livelihood in one's own way, to choose where one will locate and what one will do to sustain individual and family needs and desires. I recently heard a statement by a eminent scholar in our land who visited the Soviet Union recently. He is fluent in the Russian language. But on his way to the airport here, he recognized the youth of the cabdriver and got into conversation, found out he was working his way through college, and he asked him what he intended to be. And the young man said, "I haven't decided yet." Well, by coincidence, when he got to the Soviet Union and got in a cab, he had an equally young cabdriver. And speaking Russian, he got in conversation with him and asked the same question, finally, about the young man, what did he intend to be? And the young man said, "They haven't told me yet." [Laughter]

Well, second of those freedoms is the freedom to enjoy the fruits of one's labor-to keep for oneself and one's family the profit or gain earned by honest effort.

Third is the freedom to own and control one's property—to trade or exchange it and not to have it taken through threat or coercion.

Fourth is the freedom to participate in a free market—to contract freely for goods and services and to achieve one's full potential without government limits on opportunity, economic independence, and growth.

Just as Jefferson understood that our political freedoms needed protection by and from government, our economic freedoms need similar recognition and protection. Those who attain political power must know that there are limits beyond which they will not be permitted to go, because beyond that point their intrusion is destructive of the economic freedom of the people. We must insist, for example, that there be a limit to the level of taxation, not only because excessive taxation undermines the strength of the economy but because taxation beyond a certain level becomes servitude. And in America, it is the Government that works for the people and not the other way around.

Now, in the same vein, regulation of an individual's business or property can reach a degree when ownership is nullified and the value is taken. Our administration has argued in the courts that if the Government takes private property through regulation, the "just compensation" clause of the Constitution requires that the owner must be duly paid. There's nothing more encouraging to those who believe in economic freedom than last month's Supreme Court decisions which reaffirm this fundamental guarantee. Property rights are central to liberty and should never be trampled upon.

The working people need to know their jobs, take-home pay, homes, and pensions are not vulnerable to the threat of a grandiose, inefficient, and overbearing government-something Jefferson warned us about 200 years ago. It's time to finish the job Jefferson began and to protect our people and their livelihoods with restrictions on government that will ensure the fundamental economic freedom of the people—the equivalent of an Economic Bill of Rights. I'm certain if Thomas Jefferson were here, he'd be one of the most articulate and aggressive champions of this cause. The reason I'm certain is that in 1798 he wrote: "I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our Constitution. I would be willing to depend on that alone for the reduction of the administration of our government to the genuine principles of its Constitution; I mean an additional article taking from the Federal Government the power of borrowing."

The centerpiece of the Economic Bill of Rights, the policy initiative we launch today, is a long-overdue constitutional amendment to require the Federal Government to do what every family in America must do, and that is live within its means and balance its budget. I will again ask Congress to submit a balanced budget amendment to the States. And if the Congress will not act, I'll have no choice but to take my case directly to the States.

The package of fundamental reforms we propose will go a long way to secure the blessings of liberty. Taxation, for example, is more than mathematical calculations. It is the harnessing of free people; it is forced labor; and if it goes beyond reasonable bounds, it is a yoke of oppression. Raising taxes, then, should be serious business. It should not be done without a broad national consensus. We propose that every American's paycheck be protected—as part of a balanced budget amendment—by requiring that tax increases must be passed by both Houses of Congress by more than a mere majority of their Members.

Our forefathers fought for personal and national independence, yet 200 years later, our own overly centralized government poses a threat to our liberty far beyond anything imagined by the patriots of old. We offer two approaches to turning the situation around, both encompassed in our proposals. One is to reduce the size and scope of the Federal Government. This is an ongoing battle. We will be relentless in steadily reducing spending until a balanced budget is achieved.

But also, as part of our initiative, we propose to prune judiciously from the Government that which goes beyond the proper realm of the state. I will, by Executive order, establish a bipartisan Presidential commission on privatization to determine what Federal assets and activities can and should be returned to the citizenry. At the same time, I will order the executive branch to find additional ways for contracting outside of government to perform those tasks that belong in the private economy.

We must also reexamine existing Federal policies to ensure that they help, not hinder, all Americans to participate fully in the opportunities of our free economy. We need to replace a welfare system that destroys economic independence and the family with one that creates incentives for recipients to move up and out of dependency.

Now, the second thrust is structural and procedural reform. We propose changes that will ensure truth in spending by requiring every new program to meet this test: If congressional passage of a new program will require increased spending, it must be paid for at the same time, either with offsetting reductions in other programs or new revenues. Citizens of this country, as well as State and local governments, also have a right to be fully informed as to what Federal legislation will do to them, what costs will be required for fulfilling the will of Congress. Full disclosure of such costs up front may well temper the desire to overregulate and over-legislate.

Reform must go to the heart of the problem. The integrity of the decisionmaking process as envisioned by our Founding Fathers has broken down and is in drastic need of repair. The veto power of the President, for example, is no longer the potent force for fiscal responsibility as set down in the Constitution. This was clear last year when all government appropriations were thrown into one gigantic, catchall resolution. And for me, it was a take-it-or-leave-it, all-or-nothing choice—doing damage to long-respected constitutional checks and balances. The first step in reestablishing these checks and balances is giving the President the authority to cut out the fat, yet leave the meat, of legislation that gets to his desk. And the President deserves the same tool for budgetary responsibility that is now in the hands of 43 Governors, a tool I used effectively as Governor of California-the line-item veto.

Today we begin a drive to protect economic freedom in the United States. We commit ourselves to do our utmost to bring about fundamental reform, reform that will ensure the liberty we hold so dear. Standing here, with Jefferson looking over my shoulder, looking out at the Lincoln and the Washington Memorials and the White House straight ahead and, in the distance, the Capitol, one can't but appreciate that all freedom is mutually reinforcing. Perhaps a more specific delineation of economic freedom was always needed, but today it's imperative. Our citizens were always skeptical of government. Jefferson looked at Congress and noted that no one should have expected 150 lawyers to do business anyway. [Laughter] My apologies to lawyers present. But the Federal Government's role was severely limited; the future was in the hands of the people, not the Government. And that's the way our forebears wanted it.

Jefferson, in his first inaugural, spoke for his countrymen when he said: "A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This," he said, "is the sum of good government." Well, that vision of America still guides our thinking, still represents our ideals.

What we begin today is not a maneuver or an attempt to achieve short-term goals with lofty pronouncements. Our proposals are consistent with what we've been doing; in fact, they'll help secure the progress that we've made. They're basic to the philosophy that brought me into public life, and for the rest of my public life, I'll pursue the goals we've set forth in this Economic Bill of Rights.

Our specific proposals, 10 in all, will go a long way toward putting economic freedom under the protection of the law. And even if we achieve what we've set out to do in bits and pieces, rather than in one fell swoop—as happened with the Bill of Rights to the Constitution—each victory will make freedom more secure. Ours is a vision of limited government and unlimited opportunity, of growth and progress beyond what any can see today. A saying in colonial times suggested there are two ways to get to the top of an oak tree, where the view is much better. One is to climb; the other is to find an acorn and sit on it. [Laughter] Well, I didn't come to Washington to sit on acorns. [Laughter] It's time to roll up our sleeves and start climbing.

I see many familiar faces here, and I want to thank you all for all you've done in these last 6 1/2 years. Together, we've climbed some mighty oaks. We've worked, sweated, and strained to carry our cause to new heights, helping each other along the way, ever faithful to our principles. I'll always remember and be grateful to you.

In the early days of the American Revolution, no two individuals worked more diligently together than did Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Yet once our country attained its independence and once partisan politics set in—and it set in early—they drifted apart; in fact, they became bitter political enemies. Last Fourth of July, I related the story of how those two old gentlemen, heroes both, rekindled their friendship in their twilight years, corresponding regularly, writing affectionately of the many memories they shared, and, yes, discussing their beliefs and values. Both of these men, giants to us but mortal to be sure, died within hours of each other. It was July 4th, exactly 50 years from the date of the Declaration of Independence. It's reported that John Adams' last words were, "Thomas Jefferson survives." History tells us, however, that Jefferson had died shortly before John Adams passed away.

But Adams was right. All of us stand in tribute to the truth of those words. We proclaim it again and again with our dedication to keeping this a land of liberty and justice for all, and through our deeds and actions, to ensure that this country remains a bastion of freedom, the last best hope for mankind. As long as a love of liberty is emblazoned on our hearts, Jefferson lives.

Thank you all. God bless you all.

July 10, 1987

And from the outset, this idea of economic freedom has been our political lodestar. That's why in creating our political revolution for this economic freedom our goal was simple, as Jefferson said about the revolution of his own time: "to place before mankind the common sense of the subject." All we said was this: Give the American people a chance, and they'll come through. They'll make the difference. They'll get us out of the worst economic mess since the Depression. And they have, building one of the mightiest prosperities in our history, a prosperity that I know every one of us in this room is determined to keep making stronger with every passing month and every passing year.

July 27, 1987 11: 10am

One of the most dangerous inclinations of human nature, Thomas Jefferson once said, is appropriating wealth produced by the labor of others rather than producing it by one's own labor. He said government was the usual vehicle for this abuse. And as he put it: The stronger the government, the weaker the producer. And he added: The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.

July 27, 1987 2:10pm

I was going to say I hope I can count on your support. You've told me I can already. Now, some of you may know that I announced the Economic Bill of Rights on July 3d, standing on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial. And as I spoke, I could see symbols of our precious freedoms. In the distance was the White House, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial. One building that can't be seen from the Jefferson Memorial, however, is the Capitol, where both Houses of Congress meet and do business. And that view is obstructed by government buildings. Well, by working together, and with our Economic Bill of Rights, we're going to make certain that Congress never loses sight of Jefferson, his ideals, and his vision for all Americans. He is the man that just shortly after the Constitution was ratified said it has one glaring omission: It does not have a clause preventing the Federal Government from borrowing. Well, together, we'll keep this the land of the free and the home of the brave.

July 29, 1987

I happen to believe that, when it comes to farming, the decisionmaking shouldn't be in the hands of the politicians, academics, or bureaucrats. It should be in the hands of the farmers. Thomas Jefferson once said: "State a moral case to a ploughman and a professor, and the former will decide it as well, and often better, than the latter, because he has not been led astray by artificial rules." Well, it's time to get the artificial rules out of the way and get back to fundamentals like freedom, private property, and supply and demand. We're looking forward with you to the day when you'll be the proud, free producers of our country's and the rest of the world's food and fiber.

September 14, 1987

It was my honor a few years ago to have helped dedicate the Madison Building. This structure, of course, is named for Thomas Jefferson, author of our Declaration of Independence, champion of human freedom, and third President of the United States. Jefferson had an abiding faith in the people, but he knew that the success of that experiment begun on July 4th, 1776, depended on an informed citizenry. "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Jefferson wrote that. It's fitting then that this Library of Congress—this great clearinghouse for ideas, knowledge, and culture—is open to every citizen. Nearly 2 1/2 million people visited this library last year. It's one of the great institutions of our nation, reflecting the values and openness of a free society.

October 26, 1987

In most areas of governmental concern, the States uniquely possess the constitutional authority, the resources, and the competence to discern the sentiments of the people and to govern accordingly. In Thomas Jefferson's words, the States are "the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies."

November 5, 1987

Thomas Jefferson once wrote: "The fortune of our lives depends on employing well the short period of our youth." Well, that's what this report and the effort we're making is all about. We want all of America's children to reach their fullest potential, to reach adulthood capable of living life to its fullest and taking advantage of the tremendous freedom of our country. As I said earlier, this is not just government's job; it's up to all of us.

January 5, 1988

Thomas Jefferson once said that one of the toughest tasks of any President was finding the right person for the right job. Well, I'm grateful that those of you we honor today are people who worked your way into positions of responsibility and have taken that responsibility seriously.

January 25, 1988

In the spirit of Jefferson, let us affirm that in this Chamber tonight there are no Republicans, no Democrats—just Americans. Yes, we will have our differences, but let us always remember what unites us far outweighs whatever divides us. Those who sent us here to serve them—the millions of Americans watching and listening tonight-expect this of us.

April 13, 1988

When he stood before this group almost 27 years ago, President Kennedy said that, "The President of a great democracy such as ours and the editors of great newspapers such as yours owe a common obligation to the people to present the facts with candor and in perspective." Well, I certainly agree. Whether one is working in the Oval Office or in the newsrooms of America, whether one is putting together the Nation's policies or the next day's edition, the purpose is the same: the continuing purpose of defending America's liberties and passing them on to the next generation. And truth be told, in the greater scheme of things, you are—I hesitate to say this—more essential to that common pursuit than I am. And that's why freedom of the press is, and must always be, above politics—something all jurists and all legislators and all Presidents agree on. As Jefferson said—and he was right: "When the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe."

June 17, 1988

World trade will, of course, represent a topic of central concern at the Toronto summit, and so I thought I'd share with you some of my thoughts about the international economy. First, underlying principles-listen, if you will, to these words written by Thomas Jefferson: "Our interest will be to throw open the door of commerce and to knock off all its shackles, giving perfect freedom to all persons for the vent of whatever they may choose to bring into our ports, and asking the same in theirs." In short, protectionism in any country does damage to all. And so, the goal of the administration has been to open the markets of other countries, not to close America's markets.

June 22, 1988

Opening, not closing, markets is why a new trade bill at home must encourage free and fair trade and not establish barriers that will lead to retaliation. Our goal, the goal of both the executive and legislative branches, should be sound, coherent, consistent trade policy, a trade bill that does not seek short-term political gains but long-term economic prosperity for all Americans in a market-driven world economy. What Thomas Jefferson said long ago still applies: "Our interest will be to throw open the door of commerce and to knock off all its shackles, giving perfect freedom to all persons for the vent of whatever they may choose to bring into our ports, and asking the same of theirs." Clear back then—Thomas Jefferson. And by the way, that a 20th century President can quote Jefferson on trade says a great deal about America's abiding interest in free markets, even from our earliest days. I told Tom that when he said it. [Laughter]

August 14, 1988

Thank all of you, and thank you, Frank and Mary. It's great to be in New Orleans. You know, I always feel at home here in Louisiana because, you know, I'm the fella that talked Tom Jefferson into buying it. [Laughter]

September 10, 1988

I believe that the education of all Americans must be rooted in the self-evident truths of Western civilization. These are the truths that have been passed down like precious heirlooms from generation to generation since the generations began. Since the founding of this Nation, education and democracy have gone hand in hand. Thomas Jefferson not only wrote the Declaration of Independence and served as our third President but also founded one of our most distinguished institutions of higher learning, the University of Virginia.

Jefferson and the Founders believed a nation that governs itself, like ours, must rely upon an informed and engaged electorate. Their purpose was not only to teach all Americans how to read and write but to instill the self-evident truths that are the anchors of our political system—truths, to quote Jefferson, such as: "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

This is our precious heritage. And our political freedoms—the freedom to speak, to practice our religions, to assemble peacefully-are the product of ideas that were born and nurtured in the great tradition of Western civilization. That tradition does not say "some men" have these rights; it says "all men," everywhere on this Earth. Whether of Asian, Hispanic, or African descent, no matter what color, every American is the inheritor of our great cultural tradition.

That's why I've supported, and continue to support, all efforts to teach our children about our culture, to read great texts and learn their lessons. Bill Bennett, our Secretary of Education, has just reported on the state of elementary education in our country. That report, entitled "James Madison Elementary School," presents an outline for what every elementary school curriculum should include. It is suffused with the glory of Western civilization, and I salute it.

October 3, 1988

All over the world, America is known as a "land of liberty." For the settlers who first came to America by ship in the 17th century, this new land promised a New World, and a new chance to make possible the oldest of dreams—the dream of personal liberty. The early settlers and explorers found an abundance of land—virgin forests, untouched meadows, bountiful streams, and sweet-smelling air—that vastly exceeded anything the kings of the old world could have ever imagined. In his first inaugural address, Thomas Jefferson spoke of a country with land sufficient to "the thousand thousandth generation." There was so much land in America that there was no way to restrict it to a privileged few. Instead of locking it up for the exclusive use of royalty, the Founding Fathers made possible the widespread ownership of the lands west of the original colonies by anyone brave enough to take the risk, to grasp the main chance, and to hope for a better tomorrow.

December 16, 1988 10:35am

Here at UVA, we are surrounded with memories of Thomas Jefferson. One of my staff mentioned that Thomas Jefferson's favorite recreation was horseback riding, and I said he was a wise man. [Laughter] And another member of the staff said that Thomas Jefferson thought the White House was a noble edifice, and I said he was a man of refined taste. [Laughter] And a third staff member noted that, after retiring as President, Thomas Jefferson, in his seventies, didn't sit back and rest, but founded the University of Virginia; and I said: There's always an overachiever which makes it hard for the rest of us.

But no speaker can come to these grounds or see the Lawn without appreciating the symmetry not just of the architecture but of the mind that created it. The man to whom that mind belonged is known to you as Mr. Jefferson. And I think the familiarity of that term is justified; his influence here is everywhere. And yet, while those of you at UVA are fortunate to have before you physical reminders of the power of your founder's intellect and imagination, it should be remembered that all you do here, indeed, all of higher education in America, bears signs, too, of his transforming genius. The pursuit of science, the study of the great works, the value of free inquiry, in short, the very idea of the living the life of the mind—yes, these formative and abiding principles of higher education in America had their first and firmest advocate, and their greatest embodiment, in a tall, fair-headed, friendly man who watched this university take form from the mountainside where he lived, the university whose founding he called a crowning achievement to a long and well-spent life.

Well, you're not alone in feeling his presence. Presidents know about this, too. You've heard many times that during the first year of his Presidency, John F. Kennedy said to a group of Nobel laureates in the State Dining Room of the White House that there had not been such a collection of talent in that place since Jefferson dined there alone. [Laughter] And directly down the lawn and across the Ellipse from the White House are those ordered, classic lines of the Jefferson Memorial and the eyes of the 19-foot statue that gaze directly into the White House, a reminder to any of us who might occupy that mansion of the quality of mind and generosity of heart that once abided there and has been so rarely seen there again.

But it's not just students and Presidents, it is every American—indeed, every human life ever touched by the daring idea of self-government—that Mr. Jefferson has influenced. Yes, Mr. Jefferson was obliged to admit all previous attempts at popular government had proven themselves failures. But he believed that here on this continent, as one of his commentators put it, "here was virgin soil, an abundance of land, no degrading poverty, a brave and intelligent people which had just vindicated its title to independence after a long struggle with the mightiest of European powers."

Well, here was another chance, an opportunity for enlightened government, government based on the principles of reason and tolerance, government that left to the people the fruits of their labor and the pursuit of their own definition of happiness in the form of commerce or education or religion. And so, it's no wonder he asked that his epitaph read simply: "Here was born [buried] Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of [American] Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia."

Well, as that epitaph shows, for all his learning and bookishness, Mr. Jefferson was a practical man, a man who made things, things like a university, a State government, a National Government. In founding and sustaining these institutions, he wanted them to be based on the same symmetry, the same balance of mind and faith in human creativity evidenced in the Lawn. He had known personal tragedy. He knew how disorderly a place the world could be. Indeed, as a leader of a rebellion, he was himself an architect, if you will, of disorder. But he also believed that man had received from God a precious gift of enlightenment-the gift of reason, a gift that could extract from the chaos of life meaning, truth, order.

Just as we see in his architecture, the balancing of circular with linear, of rotunda with pillar, we see in his works of government the same disposition toward balance, toward symmetry and harmony. He knew successful self-government meant bringing together disparate interests and concerns, balancing, for example, on the one hand, the legitimate duties of government—the maintenance of domestic order and protection from foreign menace—with government's tendency to preempt its citizens' rights, take the fruits of their labors, and reduce them ultimately to servitude. So he knew that governing meant balance, harmony. And he knew from personal experience the danger posed to such harmony by the voices of unreason, special privilege, partisanship, or intolerance.

And I do mean personal experience. You see, despite all of George Washington's warnings about the divisiveness of the partisan spirit, Federalists and Republicans were constantly at each other in those days. The Federalists of the Northeast had held power for a long time and were not anxious to relinquish it. Years later, a New York Congressman honored the good old days when, as he put it, "a Federalist could knock a Republican down in the streets of New York and not be questioned about it." The Federalists referred to Mr. Jefferson as-and here I quote—"a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, raised wholly on hotcake made of coarse-ground Southern corn, bacon, and hominy, with an occasional fricasseed bullfrog." [Laughter] Well, by the way—was the 1800 equivalent of what I believe is known here at UVA as a Gus Burger. [Laughter] And an editorial in the Federalist Connecticut Courant also announced that as soon as Mr. Jefferson was elected, "Murder, robbery, rape, and adultery and incest will be openly taught and practiced." [Laughter]

Well, that was politics in 1800. So, you see, not all that much has changed. [Laughter] Actually, I've taken a moment for these brief reflections on Thomas Jefferson and his time precisely because there are such clear parallels to our own. We too have seen a new populism in America, not at all unlike that of Jefferson's time. We've seen the growth of a Jefferson-like populism that rejects the burden placed on the people by excessive regulation and taxation; that rejects the notion that judgeships should be used to further privately held beliefs not yet approved by the people; and finally, rejects, too, the notion that foreign policy must reflect only the rarefied concerns of Washington rather than the common sense of a people who can frequently see far more plainly dangers to their freedom and to our national well-being.

It is this latter point that brings me to the University of Virginia today. There has been much change in the last 8 years in our foreign relations; and this September, when I spoke to the United Nations, I summarized much of the progress we've seen in such matters as the human rights agenda, arms reduction, and resolving those regional conflicts that might lead to wider war. I will not recite all of this here again today, but I do want you to know I found in the delegates afterward a warmth that I had not seen before—let me assure you, not due to any eloquence on my part but just a simple perception on their part that there is a chance for an opening, a new course in human events. I think I detected a sense of excitement, even perhaps like that felt by those who lived in Jefferson's time: a sense of new possibilities for the idea of popular government. Only this time, it's not just a single nation at issue: It is the whole world where popular government might flourish and prosper.

Only a few years ago, this would have seemed the most outlandish and dreamiest of prospects. But consider for just a moment the striving for democracy that we have seen in places like the Philippines, Burma, Korea, Chile, Poland, South Africa—even places like China and the Soviet Union. One of the great, unnoticed-and yet most startling—developments of this decade is this: More of the world's populace is today living in relative freedom than ever before in history; more and more nations are turning to freely elected democratic governments.

The statistics themselves are compelling. According to one organization, Freedom House, in the past 15 years the number of countries called not free declined from 71 to 50. And the countries classified as free or partly free increased from 92 to 117. When you consider that, according to the Freedom House count, 70 percent of those not living in freedom are in China and the Soviet Union—and even in those nations, as I say, we see glimpses of hope—the picture is even brighter. The most dramatic movement of all has taken place: More than 90 percent of the people are now living in countries that are democratic or headed in that direction.

This democratic revolution has been accompanied by a change in economic thinking comparable to the Newtonian revolution in physics, and that is no accident. Free-market economies have worked miracles in several nations of East Asia. A U.N. General Assembly special session on Africa has called for more market-oriented structural reform in that region. In Europe the tide is against state ownership of property. And even in China and the Soviet Union the theoretical underpinnings of Socialist economics are being reexamined.

In this atmosphere, we've continued to emphasize prudent but deepening development of economic ties which are critical to our economic health in the conduct of our foreign policy. In our own hemisphere, we're about to implement an historic free trade agreement between the United States and Canada that could well serve as a model for the world.

These democratic and free-market revolutions are really the same revolution. They are based on the vital nexus between economic and political freedom and on the Jeffersonian idea that freedom is indivisible, that government's attempts to encroach on that freedom—whether it be through political restrictions on the rights of assembly, speech, or publication, or economic repression through high taxation and excessive bureaucracy-have been the principal institutional barrier to human progress:

But if this remarkable revolution has not been obvious to many, certainly one other eye-opening change has been self-evident. Consider for just a moment the sights we've seen this year: an American President with his Soviet counterpart strolling through Red Square and talking to passers-by about war and peace; an American President there in the Lenin Hills of Moscow speaking to the students of Moscow State University, young people like yourselves, about the wonder and splendor of human freedom; an American President, only last week, with a future American President and the President of the Soviet Union standing in New York Harbor, looking up at Lady Liberty, hearing again the prayer on the lips of all those millions who once passed that way in hope of a better life and future—a prayer of peace and freedom for all humanity.

And, yes, even this week in the devastation of Armenia, Americans and Russians making common cause, as we once made common cause against another terrible enemy 44 years ago. But it's not the visuals and the sound bites that matter. Behind all of this is a record of diplomatic movement and accomplishment.

One of those visuals you've seen in the last year is the signing of accords between Mr. Gorbachev and me and the destruction of American and Soviet missiles. It was more than just good television, more than just action news. The INF treaty is the first accord in history to eliminate an entire class of U.S. and Soviet nuclear missiles. And the START treaty, which deals with far larger arsenals of long-range—or what the experts call strategic—weapons, calls for 50-percent reductions in such weapons.

In Geneva, where the portions of the draft treaty disputed by one side or the other are put in brackets, we are slowly seeing those brackets disappear. So, the treaty is coming closer. And so, too, there's progress on nuclear-testing agreements and chemical weapons, and we're about to begin new negotiations on the conventional balance in Europe. Mr. Gorbachev's recent announcement at the U.N. about troop reductions was most welcome and appreciated, but it's important to remember this is a part of and the result of a larger disarmament process set in motion several years ago.

Another area where the achievements are visible is that of regional conflicts. In Afghanistan, we've seen a settlement leading towards Soviet withdrawal. In Cambodia, the first steps have been taken toward withdrawal of Vietnamese troops. In Brazzaville, just this Tuesday, an American-mediated accord was signed that will send some 50,000 Cuban soldiers home from Angola—the second reversal of Cuban military imperialism after our rescue of Grenada in 1983.

In the matter of human rights, we've also seen extraordinary progress: the release of some political prisoners in the Soviet Union, initial steps toward a reduction of state economic controls and more politically representative forms of government, some greater scope to publish and speak critically, an increase in emigration, and visible steps toward greater religious freedom.

And finally, in our bilateral exchanges, we're seeing more Soviet and American citizens visiting each other's land and a greater interchange of scientific, cultural, and intellectual traditions. The summits themselves are indications of the progress we've made here. I look to the day when the meetings between the leaders of the Soviet Union and the United States will be regular and frequent and maybe not quite so newsworthy.

Where we're strong, steadfast; we succeed. In the Persian Gulf, the United States made clear its commitment to defend freedom of navigation and free world interests. And this helped hasten an end to the Gulf war. And the country stood firm for years, insisting that the PLO had to accept Israel's right to exist, sign on to Resolutions 242 and 338, and renounce terrorism. And now that resolve has paid off.

Now the democratic revolution that I talked about earlier and all the change and movement and, yes, breakthroughs that I've just cited on the diplomatic front can be directly attributed to the restoration of confidence on the part of democratic nations. There can be little doubt that in the decade of the eighties the cause of freedom and human rights has prospered and the specter of nuclear war has been pushed back because the democracies have recovered their strength—their compass.

Here at home, a national consensus on the importance of strong American leadership is emerging. As I said before the Congress at the start of this year: No legacy would make me more proud than leaving in place such a consensus for the cause of world freedom, a consensus that prevents a paralysis of American power from ever occurring again.

Now, I think much of the reason for all of this has to do with the new coherence and clarity that we've brought to our foreign policy, a new coherence based on a strong reaffirmation of values by the allied nations. The same idea that so energized Mr. Jefferson and the other founders of this nation-the idea of popular government—has driven the revival of the West and a renewal of its values and its beliefs in itself.

But now the question: How do we keep the world moving toward the idea of popular government? Well, today I offer three thoughts—reflections and warnings at the same time—on how the Soviet-American relationship can continue to improve and how the cause of peace and freedom can be served.

First, the Soviet-American relationship: Once marked by sterility and confrontation, this relationship is now characterized by dialog—realistic, candid dialog—serious diplomatic progress, and the sights and sounds of summitry. All of this is heady, inspiring. And yet my first reflection for you today is: All of it is still in doubt. And the only way to make it last and grow and become permanent is to remember we're not there yet.

Serious problems, fundamental differences remain. Our system is one of checks and balances. Theirs, for all its reforms, remains a one-party authoritarian system that institutionalizes the concentration of power. Our foreign relations embrace this expanding world of democracy that I've described. Theirs can be known by the company they keep: Cuba, Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Libya, Vietnam, North Korea. Yes, we welcome Mr. Gorbachev's recent announcement of a troop reduction, but let us remember that the Soviet preponderance in military power in Europe remains, an asymmetry that offends our Jeffersonian senses and endangers our future.

So, we must keep our heads, and that means keeping our skepticism. We must realize that what has brought us here has not been easy, not for ourselves nor for all of those who have sacrificed and contributed to the cause of freedom in the postwar era.

So, this means in our treaty negotiations, as I've said: Trust, but verify. I'm not a linguist, but I learned to say that much Russian and have used it in frequent meetings with Mr. Gorbachev: "Dovorey no provorey." It means keeping our military strong. It means remembering no treaty is better than a bad treaty. It means remembering the accords of Moscow and Washington summits followed many years of standing firm on our principles and our interests, and those of our allies.

And finally, we need to recall that in the years of detente we tended to forget the greatest weapon the democracies have in their struggle is public candor: the truth. We must never do that again. It's not an act of belligerence to speak to the fundamental differences between totalitarianism and democracy; it's a moral imperative. It doesn't slow down the pace of negotiations; it moves them forward. Throughout history, we see evidence that adversaries negotiate seriously with democratic nations only when they knew the democracies harbor no illusions about those adversaries.

A second reflection I have on all this concerns some recent speculation that what is happening in the Soviet Union was in its way inevitable, that since the death of Stalin the Soviet state would have to evolve into a more moderate and status quo power in accordance with some vague theory of convergence. I think this is wrong. It's also dangerous, because what we see in the Soviet Union today is a change of a different order than in the past.

For example, whatever the Khrushchev era may or may not have represented in Soviet internal politics, we know how aspirations for greater freedom were crushed in Poland and Germany and, even more bloodily, in Hungary. We also saw the construction of the Berlin Wall. We saw Cuba become an active client state, a client state spreading subversion throughout Latin America and bringing the entire world to the brink of war with the "missiles of October."

And let me assure you, Mr. Khrushchev gave no speeches at the U.N. like that recently given by Mr. Gorbachev. As one British U.N. official said about Khrushchev appearances there: "We were never quite sure whether it was, indeed, Mr. Khrushchev's shoe being used to pound the Soviet desk or whether Mr. Gromyko's shoe had been borrowed or whether there was an extra shoe kept under the Soviet podium especially for banging purposes." [Laughter]

Now, all of this was hardly encouraging for the growth of freedom and the path to peace. We know too what happened in the Brezhnev era: greater and greater expansionism; Afghanistan; economic decay and overwhelming corruption; a greater and greater burden on the peoples of the Soviet Union, on all the peoples of the world.

Now this is changing. How much and how fast it will change we do not know. I would like to think that actions by this country, particularly our willingness to make ourselves clear—our expressions of firmness and will evidenced by our plain talk, strong defenses, vibrant alliances, and readiness to use American power when American power was needed—helped to prompt the reappraisal that Soviet leaders have undertaken of their previous policies. Even more, Western resolve demonstrated that the hard-line advocated by some within the Soviet Union would be fruitless, just as our economic successes have set a shining example. As I suggested in 1982, if the West maintained its strength, we would see economic needs clash with the political order in the Soviet Union. This has happened. But it could not have happened if the West had not maintained—indeed, strengthened—its will, its commitment to world freedom.

So, there was nothing inevitable about all of this. Human actions made the difference. Mr. Gorbachev has taken some daring steps. As I've said before, this is the first Soviet leader not to make world revolution a priority. Well, let us credit those steps. Let us credit him. And let us remember, too, that the democracies, with their strength and resolve and candor, have also made a difference.

And this is the heart of my point: What happens in the next few years, whether all this progress is continued or ended—this is, in large part, up to us. It's why now, more then ever, we must not falter. American power must be exercised morally, of course, but it must also be exercised, and exercised effectively. For the cause of peace and freedom in the eighties, that power made all the difference. The nineties will prove no different.

And this brings us to my third point: the relationship between the Executive and the Congress. It's precisely where Congress and the President have worked together—as in Afghanistan and Cambodia, or resolved differences, as in Angola, the Persian Gulf, and many aspects of U.S.-Soviet relations—precisely there, our policies have succeeded, and we see progress. But where Congress and the President have engaged each other as adversaries, as over Central America, U.S. policies have faltered and our common purposes have not been achieved.

Congress' on-again, off-again indecisiveness on resisting Sandinista tyranny and aggression has left Central America a region of continuing danger. Sometimes congressional actions in foreign affairs have had the effect of institutionalizing that kind of adversarial relationship. We see it in the War Powers Resolution, in the attempted restrictions on the President's power to implement treaties, and on trade policy. We see it in the attempt to manage complex issues of foreign policy by the blunt instrument of legislation—such as unduly restrictive intelligence oversight, limits on arms transfers, and earmarking of 95 percent of our foreign assistance—denying a President the ability to respond flexibly to rapidly changing conditions. Even in arms reduction, a President's ability to succeed depends on congressional support for military modernization-sometimes attempts are made to weaken my hand.

The Founding Fathers understood the need for effectiveness, coherence, consistency, and flexibility in the conduct of foreign affairs. As Jefferson himself said: "The transaction of business with foreign nations is Executive altogether. It belongs, then, to the head of that department, except as to such portions of it as are specially submitted to the Senate. Exceptions are to be construed strictly."

Well, the President and the Vice President are elected by all the people. So, too, is the Congress as a collegial body. All who are elected to serve in these coordinate departments of our National Government have one unmistakable and undeniable mandate: to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. To this—this foremost-they must always be attentive. For a President, it means protecting his office and its place in our constitutional framework. In doing that, the President is accountable to the people in the most direct way, accountable to history and to his own conscience.

The President and Congress, to be sure, share many responsibilities. But their roles are not the same. Congress alone, for example, has the power of the purse. The President is chief executive, chief diplomat, and commander in chief. How these great branches of government perform their legitimate roles is critically important to the Nation's ability to succeed, nowhere more so than in the field of foreign affairs. They need each other and must work together in common cause with all deference, but within their separate spheres.

Today we live in a world in which America no longer enjoys preponderant power, but must lead by example and persuasion; a world of pressing new challenges to our economic prosperity; a world of new opportunities for peace and of new dangers. In such a world, more than ever, America needs strong and consistent leadership, and the strength and resilience of the Presidency are vital.

I think if we can keep these concerns in mind during the coming years public debate and support will be enhanced and America's foreign policy will continue to prosper. All of us know the terrible importance of maintaining the progress we've made in the decade of the eighties. We're moving away from war and confrontation toward peace and freedom, and today toward a future beyond the imaginings of the past. These are the stakes. Some may find such prospects daunting. I think you should find them challenging and exciting. And I think you can see that in all of this you and your country will have a special role to play.

The issue before the world is still the same as the one that Jefferson faced so squarely and so memorably: Can human beings manage their own affairs? Is self-determination and popular, representative government possible? Mr. Jefferson's work and life amounted to a great, mighty assent to that question. So, too, will yours and America's if we can keep in mind the greatest and last lesson of Jefferson's life. And it has something to do with what I just spoke to—about the Executive and Congress.

I'm fond of recollecting that in the last years of their lives John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who had worked so hard and well together for the Nation's independence, both came to regret that they had let partisan differences come between them. For years their estrangement lasted. But then, when both retired, Jefferson at 68 to Monticello and Adams at 76 to Quincy, they began through their letters to speak again to each other, letters that discussed almost every conceivable subject: gardening, horseback riding, even sneezing as a cure for hiccups— [laughter] —but other subjects as well: the loss of loved ones; the mystery of grief and sorrow; the importance of religion; and, of course, the last thoughts, the final hopes of two old men, two great patriarchs, for the country that they had helped to found and loved so deeply.

"It carries me back," Jefferson wrote about his correspondence with his cosigner of the Declaration of Independence, "to the times when, beset with difficulties and dangers, we were fellow laborers in the same cause, struggling for what is most valuable to man: his right to self-government. Laboring always at the same oar, with some wave ever ahead threatening to overwhelm us and yet passing harmless we rowed through the storm with heart and hand."

It was their last gift to us, this lesson in tolerance for each other, in charity, this insight into America's strength as a nation. And when both died on the same day, within hours of each other, the date was July 4th, 50 years exactly after that first gift to us: the Declaration of Independence.

A great future is ours and the world's if we but remember the power of those words Mr. Jefferson penned not just for Americans but for all humanity: "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Thank you, and God bless you.

December 16, 1988 11:45am

But you know, as I look at this remarkable university which, from its academic ideals to its magnificent grounds, is so fully the product of a single man's vision, I have to say that Thomas Jefferson would be proud of this school—yes, proud of how far it's come, but even more for how closely it's stayed true to its traditions. In fact, I remember when Thomas Jefferson told me personally that his— [laughter] —that his favorite movie was "It's a Wonderful Life." I know that film has become an institution here. And if it would be hard to imagine the mythical village of Bedford Falls without George Bailey, as played by my friend Jimmy Stewart, think how much harder it would be to imagine Charlottesville, much less America, if there had been no Thomas Jefferson.

To imagine that is almost beyond our grasp, but the underlying idea is very plain and also very exciting: that your life not only can but necessarily must make such a great difference in the lives of others, and in the world, that without you little would be the same. And that's never been more true than for your generation because today the rate of change is so remarkable that each one of you will be creating, literally inventing, a new future each step of the way.

January 13, 1989

I believe now, as I alway have, that America's strength is in "We the People." This great experiment in faith and freedom will rise or fall on the courage of "We the People." And you who have so willingly and ably taken up the burdens of freedom, through the Knights and throughout your lives, you who are surely part of what Jefferson called our natural aristocracy, you will surely be in the front as "We the People" turn to the dawn of America's tomorrows.

August 17, 1992

What they truly don't understand is the principle so eloquently stated by Abraham Lincoln: "You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves."

If we ever hear the Democrats quoting that passage by Lincoln and acting like they mean it, then, my friends, we will know that the opposition has really changed.

Until then, we see all that rhetorical smoke, billowing out from the Democrats, well ladies and gentlemen, I'd follow the example of their nominee. Don't inhale.

This fellow they've nominated claims he's the new Thomas Jefferson. Well, let me tell you something. I knew Thomas Jefferson. He was a friend of mine. And governor, you're no Thomas Jefferson.

President George H.W. Bush

Boston September 23, 1989

Many years ago, one of my predecessors, a man trained and accomplished in the same profession as yourselves, found himself facing a crisis of conviction. Many Americans had come to doubt the very foundations upon which this nation was laid. And it was widely suggested that the early success of the United States was an accident of natural wealth. People said that the sophisticated problems of modern times required a rethinking of the democratic institutions of our nation's youth.

The President was burdened by a troubling question: Do the founders of our nation have anything to say to the present day, or is it necessary to start over on a new basis? The man was Thomas Jefferson, and the occasion, his Inaugural Address. And the response he made to that crisis is as forceful today as it was in his own age, for Jefferson understood that the essence of America lies not in shared real estate but in shared values, not in a common ancestry but in a common vision.

So, he spoke of the rights of responsibilities of free citizens. "Every difference of opinion," he warned, "is not a difference of principle." And he singled out one such unyielding principle as fundamental to our continued life as a nation: "equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political."

And the challenge that Thomas Jefferson delivered to his fellow citizens -- I repeat it today; I deliver it to you this afternoon. And so, I challenge you, as Catholic lawyers, not to give in to the dismay of those today who in error or alarm have wandered from the basic convictions to which our nation is pledged. I challenge you to rekindle and foster a love of justice -- American justice -- a justice that knows no boundaries of race and sex, income or age.

Charlottesville September 27, 1989, 3:15pm

Welcome, welcome to Mr. Jefferson's university, the alma mater of President Woodrow Wilson. To Virginia's gracious Governor, Jerry Baliles, my thanks to you, sir. Our Senators -- I don't know if they made it -- Chuck Robb and John Warner -- but I know they plan to come. And, of course, Congressman for this district, French Slaughter.

I call it Mr. Jefferson's university, as nearly everyone else does in this marvelous city of Charlottesville. In fact, President Taft said once that they still spoke about Mr. Jefferson as though he were in the next room -- his spirit more real than the painting of Plato and Aristotle behind me, or the statue of Homer outside on the lawn.

Although his ideas on individual freedom, humanism and the inalienable rights of man stand alone in the history of this republic, Mr. Jefferson had one overriding vision that he did not see realized in his lifetime, but one which has over the past 200 years been fulfilled: a vision of strong public education, a public education system in this country second to none. It's a system that has brought Americans from all walks of life together, enabled all citizens to build better lives for themselves; a system that has given us Neil Armstrong, and Martin Luther King, Jonas Salk, Sandra Day O'Connor; a system unparalleled in the world.

But today millions of Americans cannot read. Some never even make it to graduation, dropping out of school and society as well. Drugs have invaded our classrooms, violence has entered our schoolyards, and clearly the enlightened America dreamed of by Thomas Jefferson still eludes us. And so, the Governors have accepted my invitation to come together for open and candid discussions about the future of American education. And I am grateful to each and every one of you, and I appreciate the depth of commitment shown by everyone assembled here today…

Shortly we're going to leave this hall and walk down the lawn to the Rotunda for the first of our working group meetings. On the way we will pass -- walk past Pavilion Seven, known as the Colonnade Club. The cornerstone of that building was laid by three great Americans -- Presidents Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. And as you walk past that Colonnade Club, let us think of these three men and what they envisioned for the Republic. Think of the schools the founders sought to establish to develop the character of students with values like honesty and discipline and public service. And let us work together these next 2 days in a spirit of total frankness, total honesty. And let's not be afraid, as Mr. Jefferson said, to follow truth, wherever it may lead.

Charlottesville September 27, 1989, 8:25pm

Welcome, welcome. I will try to keep it short. You see, the record has already been set for toasts here in Charlottesville at the university. Back in 1824, Mr. Jefferson hosted a dinner in the Dome Room of the Rotunda for the Marquis de Lafayette attended by former Presidents Monroe and Madison. It was an elegant dinner. The libations flowed freely -- so freely, in fact, that 13 formal toasts ensued. [Laughter] And looking around here, only to be followed by 37 more impromptu toasts. That's the one tradition that I would like to discourage tonight.

This afternoon, though, we did begin an historic summit -- 2 days of what will be a lot of hours and hard work. The issues before us in the working sessions are profound. The solutions that we seek will not be simple ones. But I am absolutely confident that the spirit which inspired the founders of this nation, and particularly this university, is ever-present tonight as we gather at the beloved mountaintop home of President Thomas Jefferson. Below us, outside of this tent, we can see the twinkling limits and lights of Charlottesville; above us, the quiet pastures of Brown's Mountain. Not far down the mountain road is Ashland Highlands, the home of President Monroe. And we're overlooking the "academical village" founded by Mr. Jefferson 170 years ago. Earlier, at sunset, we could see the Rotunda and the purple shadows of The Lawn -- once an open-ended field that looked out to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. It was Mr. Jefferson's wish that it remain that way so that students would look out to the horizon poised between their education and their future.

Today, in the Rotunda, we worked in that elusive area between education and the future, defining our dream for excellence and giving shape to our hopes for America. And it was one day shortly before he died, right here, that Mr. Jefferson gazed at the Rotunda and said that establishing his university was "the last act of usefulness that I can render my country." Building the Rotunda and the university were the crowning achievements of the "Sage of Monticello," and yet he knew that without the creativity and the intellectual challenge of a great faculty, his new center of living and center of thought would be nothing more than bricks and mortar. He searched for the best in Europe and brought them to teach at the university as new citizens -- except in the subject of law, to be taught only by a resident American.

In fact, Jefferson's favorite teacher was his own law professor, George Wythe, a man who also taught him the essentials of ancient philosophy and the classics. I'm sure everyone here has a favorite teacher. I think back myself to the 12th grade, to Professor A.B. Darling, that some elitist ivy-leaguers might remember -- [laughter] -- but in my case, this man made the immortals of American history come to life. And I'm not going to give you equal time because I'll bet you every Governor here has a special teacher that he remembers. Today, as it was in Jefferson's time, it is America's teachers who enlighten our young people and inspire them to excellence. You know, Jefferson knew this, writing once that aside from education, "no other sure foundation can be devised for the preservation of freedom and happiness."

And so, tonight I would like to toast those who have heard the call and followed it -- those who have sacrificed so much in order that America might enjoy a sure foundation of freedom and happiness. And I toast our teachers -- those who taught us, those who sacrifice to teach our children, and those among us who have been members of this proud profession, the 6 members of my Cabinet -- 6 -- and the 13 Governors present who are former teachers. And just to give a small plug for alternative certification, there is one person present who has never held a teaching position, yet has been a leader in the fight against illiteracy, and that is my wife, Barbara.

We've come to this spectacular home of Thomas Jefferson to build upon his dreams of a strong system of education for all. But without our teachers, without their vision and their dedication, the dream would be lost. And so I ask you now to join me in a toast, a salutation to the teachers of America. God bless them all, and God bless the United States. To the teachers!

Charlottesville September 28, 1989

As you may have noticed during the course of this unprecedented education summit, Virginia law and tradition oblige us to publicly invoke the name of Thomas Jefferson at least once or twice an hour. [Laughter] There are worse habits…

Our children are growing up in an age where wonder is commonplace, peace and prosperity often taken for granted. And our children are also the beneficiaries of a nation that lavishes unsurpassed resources on their schooling. So, in many ways we're close to fulfilling the Enlightenment dream of universal education, a dream that became a reality in the shadows of the Shenandoahs here at Mr. Jefferson's school.

And every step we take at this university is truly a walk in Thomas Jefferson's footsteps. When he first charted the ground on which we gather today, there was just a field of grass, a horizon limited only by the blue mountains beyond. But Jefferson surveyed a horizon that no one else could see. He saw the graceful dome of the Rotunda, the elegance of the Lawn and its pavilions. He saw meeting rooms and libraries and lecture halls teeming with professors, students yet unborn. Jefferson set out to fashion his rarified vision into solid reality, brick by brick, book by book. And it is his university, and his dream, that inspires us today to follow in his footsteps. As President O'Neil said, Thomas Jefferson, our first education president, was a relentless advocate for universal public education. "He had a fundamental conviction that on the good sense of an educated citizenry, we could build and defend a country of liberty and justice.”…

In essence, that is why we've gathered here at Mr. Jefferson's school. He was just one man, but look at what one man can do. Imagine what we can do, if we -- more than 50 strong -- are united by this great cause. So let us dream, and let us talk. And if need be let us argue, but in the end let us walk together on a journey to enlightenment, in the footsteps of Thomas Jefferson.

Washington December 9, 1991

When the Federal Convention ended in September 1787 and our Constitution was presented to the States for ratification, it was hailed by many as a triumph for liberty and self-government. "The Constitution," wrote Thomas Jefferson, "is unquestionably the wisest ever yet presented to men." Still, he and others voiced concern that it did not contain a declaration enumerating the rights of individuals. To Jefferson such a declaration was "what no just government should refuse or rest on inferences."

Opponents to the idea argued that a bill of rights would be unnecessary and perhaps even harmful, should it invite disregard for any rights that were not expressly stated. In their view, the Constitution that began with the words "We the People" clearly affirmed the sovereignty of the American public. But Jefferson and others persisted, noting that a declaration of rights would serve "as a supplement to the Constitution where that is silent." James Madison conceded that such a declaration might prove valuable because "political truths declared in that solemn manner acquire by degrees the character of fundamental maxims of free government." Today his words seem prophetic.

President Bill Clinton

April 13, 1993

Today we observe the birthday of perhaps the most brilliant of our Founding Fathers in a setting Thomas Jefferson would have very much approved: one that joins the beauty of human architecture with the rapturous side of nature, with the cherry blossoms bursting all around us in a wreath.

Mr. Jefferson used to say with some pride that the Sun never found him in bed, that he always rose early, and he was very proud of the fact that well into his seventies, he could ride a horse several miles a day without tiring. Well, in honor of his birthday, I rose early this morning and finding no horses around The White House, I ran over here and jogged around this magnificent Tidal Basin, seeing many of my fellow citizens who were here even before me, at the dawn, to see this magnificent sight.

Today we have come to lay our wreaths in honor of Thomas Jefferson, as his likeness towers behind us. And yet, no amount of bronze can capture the measure of the man who helped to cut a path for our Nation, who personally forged the principles that continue to guide us as Americans and as lovers of freedom.

As has already been said, this monument was dedicated a half a century ago, on the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birthday by President Franklin Roosevelt, a worthy heir to the spirit of Jefferson. Were Jefferson here today, I think he would not want very much to talk about the America of his time; instead, he would be talking about the America of our time. He would certainly not be at a loss for ideas about what we ought to be doing, for he was a man blessed with an eye for invention, an ear for music, the hands of a farmer, the mind of a philosopher, the voice of a statesman, and the soul of a searcher for truth.

The genius of Thomas Jefferson was his ability to get the most out of today while never taking his eye off tomorrow, to think big while enjoying the little things of daily life. Perhaps most important, he understood that in order for us to preserve our timeless values, people have to change. And free people need to devise means by which they can change profoundly and still peacefully. If you go back to this monument after the ceremony, you will see on the wall in part the following quotation: "Laws and institutions must go hand-in-hand with the progress of the human mind as that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made and new truths discovered, and manners and opinions change. With the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times."

A very modern statement from our third President. In his own time, the pace of change was enormous. just think back, during Jefferson's Presidency the steamboat made its debut, revolutionizing travel. The importing of slaves was banned, paving the way toward emancipation and the realignment of society. And he acquired the Louisiana Purchase for the then massive sum of $15 million. Turns out it was an awfully sound investment. It doubled the size of our Nation, it opened up a new frontier, and it enabled me to be born in the United States of America, and many of you as well, I suspect.

But believe it or not, every step along the way, Thomas Jefferson was opposed. There were people who opposed the Louisiana Purchase, people who opposed his then radical conception of human liberty, and both the power of individuals and the limitations of the Government. He fought, and he prevailed.

I wonder what he would say about our time, in which the pace of change is even greater. I think he would take great pride in the fact that we have now found ways to literally double the volume of knowledge every few years. But I think he would be terribly disappointed that our understanding in this country of the science and mathematics that he loved so much is still so limited and so inadequate when compared to that of many other nations.

I think he would be delighted that the principles of freedom for which he stood all his life finally resulted in the end of the cold war and the demise of communism. But I think he would be deeply disappointed that ethnic and racial and other hatreds had kept this world such a dangerous and unstable place, in ways that are blatantly unreasonable, as he defined reason.

I think he would be proud of the technological and economic advances of this time, of the increasing interconnection of peoples across national borders in a global economy. But I think he would be profoundly disturbed that even the richest countries are now having enormous difficulty in finding enough jobs for their people, including his own beloved United States, and that so much technological advance seems to bring the destruction of much of the environment, about which he cared so deeply.

I think Jefferson would be impressed at the enormous advances in health care. He cared a lot about his health, and he lived to be 83 largely by taking good care of himself. And I think he would be a little disappointed that more of us don't take better care of ourselves and appalled to think that the United States is the only advanced country where every person doesn't have access to affordable health care, something I hope we can change before long.

If you go up there and read what's on those walls, there is an incredibly moving statement where Jefferson said, he trembles to think that God is just when he considers the real meaning of the institution of slavery. So I think he would be delighted at the progress we have made in human rights and living together across racial lines. Because he had such a passionate belief in individual liberty, I think he would be delighted by the range of personal choices and freedom of speech that the American people enjoy today, even to say things that he would find offensive, for he understood the clear meaning of the First Amendment.

But I think he would be appalled at the lack of self-respect and self-control and respect for others which manifests itself in the kind of mindless violence to which this city and others have been subject for the last several years, and appalled at the millions of young people who will never know the full measure of their freedom because they have been raised without order, without love, without family, without even the basic safety which people need to be able almost to take for granted in order to be citizens of a real democracy. In short, I think Thomas Jefferson would tell us that this is one of those times when we need to change.

Clearly, the call for change that Jefferson made, he intended to be echoed generation after generation after generation. He believed if we set up the Constitution in the way that it was set up, that Americans of courage and good sense would always, always find themselves in the majority for change when they needed to be there. He believed in Government constantly being reformed by reason and popular will.

That is what this administration is trying to do now. We know that we have an economy that, even in growth, does not produce new jobs. We know that we have increased by 4 times the debt of this Nation over the last 12 years, and we don't have much to show for it. We know that the people have now courageously asked us to take on the problems of jobs and the deficit, the environment and education and health care, to try to put our people first again and make Government work for them.

The American people, deep in their bones, without even thinking about it, are the agents of change that Thomas Jefferson sought to write in perpetuity into our Constitution. For in the end, Thomas Jefferson understood that no politician, no government, no piece of paper could do for the American people what they would have to do for themselves. He understood better perhaps than any of his colleagues that the people of this country would always have to be not only the protectors of their own liberty but the agents of their own transformation and change. But he also knew that Government must be willing to supply the tools of that change. And that, very simply, is our task today. After all, what is a good education but a tool to a better life. What is a job but a tool to build self-sufficiency, self-esteem, and dignity for a worker and a family.

As I look around this Nation, I know that Thomas Jefferson would be very proud and pleased by much of what has happened here. I suspect it would amuse and surprise him and make him very proud to think that for most Americans, on most days, people from 150 and more racial and ethnic groups live together in not only peace and law abidingness but also mutual respect and reinforcing strength. I think that would make him proud. I think he would be proud of the generosity of spirit that characterizes our people and manifests itself most clearly at a time of national crisis and national tragedy. After all, in Jefferson's time people gave food and shelter to travelers who came to their doors at night, even when they were total strangers. Jefferson himself, at Monticello, often offered his home over the years to bone-weary travelers.

Today many of our people would do the same thing. But together, together, we have not faced the problems of the bone-weary travelers in our own land, nor have we faced the problems that we all share in common. We cannot turn the problems away. It is time for reasonable change. It is time for the Americans in our time to live up to the principles etched in stone in this magnificent memorial.

Just look at the beauty around us today. Do you know that in Mr. Jefferson's time almost all of this was a swamp? People avoided this place like the plague, because they were afraid of the plague. But with a plan, with investment, with effort, with vision, Americans transformed it. And from this inhospitable terrain rose the city before us, one of the most magnificent capitals in the history of the world. But the structures around us are simply buildings. They come to life only when they shake from the will of the people. That is what Thomas Jefferson knew.

We are the inheritors of Jefferson's rich legacy. On this the 250th anniversary of his birth, we can honor him best by remembering our own role in governing ourselves and our Nation: to speak, to move, to change, for it is only in change that we preserve the timeless values for which Thomas Jefferson gave his life, over two centuries ago.

December 1994

American Heritage: Did you read a lot of biographies of him [Lincoln]?

President Bill Clinton: Yes. And I also liked Jefferson a lot when I was a child, because another thing that Southerners were obsessed with was the poverty of the South at the end of the Second World War and the whole idea that the only way out of it individually and collectively was to dramatically increase the level of education. Since Jefferson had founded the University of Virginia and had basically advocated free public education, he had a big hold on my imagination from my childhood, and I read a lot of books about him. They were the two historic figures in American life who had the biggest influence on my childhood.

President George W. Bush

April 14, 2008

We're here tonight to commemorate the 265th birthday of Thomas Jefferson, here in a room where he once walked and in a home where he once lived. In this house, President Jefferson spread the word that liberty was the right of every individual. In this house, Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark off on the mission that helped make America a continental nation. And in this house, Jefferson was known to receive guests in his bathrobe and slippers. (Laughter.) Laura said no. (Laughter.) I don't have a bathrobe. (Laughter.)

With a single sentence, Thomas Jefferson changed the history of the world. After countless centuries when the powerful and the privileged governed as they pleased, Jefferson proclaimed as a self-evident truth that liberty was a right given to all people by an Almighty.

Here in America, that truth was not fully realized in Jefferson's own lifetime. As he observed the condition of slaves in America, Jefferson said, "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just" and "that his justice cannot sleep forever." Less than 40 years after his death, justice was awakened in America and a new era of freedom dawned.

Today, on the banks of the Tidal Basin, a statue of Thomas Jefferson stands in a rotunda that is a memorial to both the man and the ideas that built this nation. There, on any day of the week, you will find men and women of all creeds, colors, races and religions. You will find scholars, schoolchildren and visitors from every part of our country. And you will find each of them looking upward in quiet reflection on the liturgy of freedom -- the words of Thomas Jefferson inscribed on the memorial's walls.

The power of Jefferson's words do not stop at water's edge. They beckon the friends of liberty on even the most distant shores. They're a source of inspiration for people in young democracies like Afghanistan and Lebanon and Iraq. And they are a source of hope for people in nations like Belarus and Burma, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, Syria, North Korea and Zimbabwe, where the struggle for freedom continues.

Thomas Jefferson left us on July 4, 1826 -- fifty years to the day after our Declaration of Independence was adopted. In one of the great harmonies of history, his friend and rival John Adams died on the very same day. Adams' last words were, "Thomas Jefferson survives." And he still does today. And he will live on forever, because the desire to live in freedom is the eternal hope of mankind.

President Barack Obama

February 10, 2014

As one of our Founding Fathers, the person who drafted our Declaration of Independence, somebody who not only was an extraordinary political leader but also one of our great scientific and cultural leaders, Thomas Jefferson represents what’s best in America. But as we see as we travel through his home, what he also represents is the incredible bond and the incredible gifts that France gave to the United States, because he was a Francophile through and through.

He drew inspiration from the Enlightenment ideas that had been developed in France and throughout Europe, but he also drew from the arts, from the architecture, from the writings, from the culture and from the cuisine of France. And so, in this sense, this home represents the bonds that helped lead to the American Revolution, helped to influence the French Revolution, figures like Lafayette, who played such a central role in our own independence -- all this is signified here at Monticello. 

And our hope in starting our visit this way is that, just as we can extend back through generations to see the links between the United States and France, tomorrow we'll have an opportunity to talk about not only our current bonds and alliance but also ways that we can strengthen our cooperation in the future.

President Joe Biden

April 26, 2024

Howard Stern:

Who do you think was the greatest president of all time? I have an answer for this, but I want to hear yours.

President Joe Biden:

Well, I think Jefferson was one of my favorite presidents of all time. But also there were people who came along in periods. I think the fact that Roosevelt came when he did and the way he did and the way he stood up.

President Donald Trump

February 2, 2017

It was the great Thomas Jefferson who said, "The God who gave us life, gave us liberty." Jefferson asked, "Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?" Among those freedoms is the right to worship according to our own beliefs. That is why I will get rid of, and totally destroy, the Johnson Amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution. I will do that. Remember.

April 26, 2017

Thomas Jefferson put it best when he said, "I believe the States can best govern our home concerns." With this Executive order and the many actions we have taken in less than 100 days, we are providing our States and communities with control over the matters that are most important to them. Together, we are going to fight to give our children the bright and beautiful future they deserve.

May 4, 2017

The religious liberty guaranteed by the Constitution is not a favor from the government, but a natural right bestowed by God. Our Constitution and our laws that protect religious freedom merely recognize the right that all people have by virtue of their humanity. As Thomas Jefferson wisely questioned: "can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?"

August 15, 2017

President Donald Trump: Excuse me, are we going to take down statues to George Washington?

Reporter: Symbols of the Confederacy are very important to them.

President Donald Trump: How about Thomas Jefferson? What do you think of Thomas Jefferson? You like him?

Reporter: I do love Thomas Jefferson, of course.

President Donald Trump: Okay, good. Are we going to take down the statue? Because he was a major slave owner. Now, are we going to take down his statue?

October 2, 2018

In a house not far from where we are today, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence and forever changed the course of human history. Today, we reaffirm our Nation's founding truth: In America, the people govern. The men and women who go to work each day are not only powering our economy, they are powering our Nation, and they are powering our freedom.

December 18, 2019

We believe in the dignity of work and the sanctity of life. We believe that faith and family, not government bureaucracy are the true American way. We believe that children should be taught to love our country, honor our history, and to always respect our great American flag. [applause] And we live by the words of our national motto and it's always going to be up there. You know, they want to take everything down. They don't want Thomas Jefferson anymore. They don't want anything. That's a terrible thing and we fight for it, now. We fight.

June 20, 2020

They were heading over to the Jefferson Memorial recently and they wanted to do damage to our great, beautiful Jefferson Memorial. Not gonna happen. Don't worry about it. We have it surrounded with very strong people. The choice in 2020 is very simple. Do you wanna bow before the left-wing mob, or do you wanna stand up tall and proud as Americans? True. [cheers and applause]

July 4, 2020

Thomas Jefferson — the great Thomas Jefferson — was 33 years old when he traveled north to Pennsylvania and brilliantly authored one of the greatest treasures of human history, the Declaration of Independence. He also drafted Virginia’s constitution, and conceived and wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, a model for our cherished First Amendment.

After serving as the first Secretary of State, and then Vice President, he was elected to the Presidency. He ordered American warriors to crush the Barbary pirates, he doubled the size of our nation with the Louisiana Purchase, and he sent the famous explorers Lewis and Clark into the west on a daring expedition to the Pacific Ocean.

He was an architect, an inventor, a diplomat, a scholar, the founder of one of the world’s great universities, and an ardent defender of liberty. Americans will forever admire the author of American freedom, Thomas Jefferson. (Applause.) And he, too, will never, ever be abandoned by us. (Applause.)

July 16, 2020

We just passed a statues and monument Executive order. And they were going wild. They—see that beautiful—look at it right there. It's so beautiful—the Washington Monument. If they had the choice, they'd take it down. And I guarantee you they'd rename it. They want to rename it. They want George Washington out. They want Thomas Jefferson out. They want Abraham Lincoln out. They want abolitionists out.

They don't know what they want. They just want to destroy our country. We're not going to let it happen. We're not letting it happen.

August 26, 2024

They wanted to take down the Thomas Jefferson, the Jefferson Memorial. They wanted to take it down. They were heading that way. They were actually heading that way. We had them all stopped, but they were heading that way. It's like fighting a war. And I went out to a news conference. They announced, "Anybody that touches any of our monuments or statues goes to jail for 10 years."

January 20, 2025

I think this—we—first of all, I just got here. So my people came in—they have extraordinary decorator sense. Right? Let me just see some of the pictures there.

[The President gestured toward the portraits hanging on the walls around the room.]

That's a good one. I could live with him. I can live with George Washington, I can tell you. I can live with Thomas Jefferson. I can live with most of them. They took a very safe route. They didn't have—they don't have any bad ones up there.