Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power

This is a well written, fast moving biography of Thomas Jefferson. The chapters tend to be punchy and relatively brief (some as short as 5 or 6 pages long)'I once reviewed Ellis book, "American Sphinx," a biography of Thomas Jefferson. At one point I mentioned Ellis' perspective:"Thomas Jefferson, according to the author, was an American Sphinx. And, indeed, there is an elusive quality to Jefferson. As the biography outlines, he could be as vicious a political assassin as there was (e.g., his attacks on John Adams through others, while trying to keep his own hands `clean'), but he did not appear to want to accept or confront this in himself.Ellis characterizes Jefferson as (page 26) `. . .a flawed creature, a man who combined massive learning with extraordinary naïveté, piercing insights into others with daunting powers of self-deception, utter devotion to great principles with a highly indulged presumption that his own conduct was not answerable to them.'"In short, Ellis emphasized his elusiveness, his contradictions. It is a nuanced work, but there is a critical edge at points in this book.Jon Meacham's book has a different take on Jefferson. It has a more positive cast to it. One example suggests the difference in approaches. Ellis speaks of the time when President George Washington lamented to harsh attacks on him by a partisan newspaper, edited by Philip Freneau. Jefferson was a key actor in bringing the newspaper into existence. Indeed, Freneau was an employee of the State Department (which Jefferson headed). Ellis' take on this is critical, as he relates Washington's lament to Jefferson, while Jefferson revealed nothing of his own role in the newspaper. Ellis sees this as indicating a sort of dishonesty about Jefferson. Meacham sees it as an illustration of Jefferson's desire not to get caught up in unpleasantness, with which he felt uncomfortable.The book does a nice job outlining Jefferson's life, from birth to death. Meacham develops a portrayal of Jefferson that addresses his inconsistencies (his view on slavery and African-Americans is rather tortured). Jefferson is perceived as a pragmatist--not a mist eyed Romantic. Slavery is an example. He thought it an institution that would create problems in the future. He made a few efforts to address this, but withdrew and did not really take a firm stand thereafter when the political problems associated with his perceptions became obvious.The book analyzes some of Jefferson's problems in a sympathetic manner, such as his flight from the English forces while he was serving as Governor. It treats his economic policy against European countries more positively than Ellis.The book deals openly with Sally Hemings, a slave on his plantation who bore him several children.Well done is the past paced storyline of Jefferson. We move crisply through the various stages of life, from his early political career to his role at the Constitutional Convention (with his authorship of the Declaration of Independence as a major contribution), to Governor of Virginia to a diplomat living in Paris to service as Secretary of State under Washington to the vice presidency (serving with John Adams--who went from being a close ally to his bête noir) to the presidency and thereafter. The tale of the resumption of his friendship with John Adams is well told. We get a good sense of Meacham's take on Jefferson as a person.All in all, a very readable account of Jefferson that is accessible to the reader.

Though history interests me, I am no historian. Most of the reviews about Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, are written by students of the period. It's enlightening to read them. They see faults in the book, which I could not detect.What a pleasure it was to read this book! It feels like a well-written novel. The sentence structure is readable and the characterization is excellent. Topics of many biographies interest me. But inevitably I bog down in the terrible writing that seems endemic to them and fail to finish them.Like most educated Americans, I know quite a bit about the American Revolution and a little about the struggles to create a government afterward. This book revealed to me how much I didn't know! I read it just after the 2012 Presidential election. I am amazed that the reasons for the struggles between Hamilton and Jefferson still cause dissension among us.Jefferson was clearly a genius. His breadth and depth of thought are staggering. I have been privileged to know a few geniuses. Usually they find it hard to relate to ordinary people. Most settle into a difficult, obscure field where they work happily among other very bright people and make important discoveries. In contrast, Jefferson used his genius to learn how to relate to all kinds of people and to influence politicians to solve their problems. In hindsight, Jefferson's vision of a United States shaped by all the people seems almost trite. In the 21st century people in every country in the world seem to want some version of this. But in Jefferson's time, no country in the world had such a system. So Jefferson can be credited, not only for inspiring our present form of government, but also to be a continuing influence on governmental change throughout the world!Jefferson's relationship to slavery should make us examine ourselves. His intellect told him it should be abolished. But his self-interest warred with that. This is not unusual. I imagine most people have experienced such conflicts regarding other issues. For example, older people, like me, know that educating the young is important. But we live on fixed incomes. When deciding whether to vote for increased taxes for education, we face a difficult choice. We know we should vote for the increase but we often act in our own self-interest. Meacham tells us that Jefferson twice tried to free slaves. But, when there was no political will to do it, he retreated to his self-interest.The technical details of whether Sally Hemmings (3/4 white) was or was not Jefferson's mistress are beyond me. But, if Jefferson did have such a relationship, it was because he was honorable. When his beloved wife was dying, he promised he would never remarry. Sally was present when he made the promise. His brief affair in France seemed almost to violate that promise. It may have forced him to realize he was not a monk and needed a sexual outlet. Sally would have understood why that couldn't be a wife. For her the relationship had advantages for both her and her children.I highly recommend this book for people like me - those who need good writing in order to stick with a long, erudite book, want to learn more about the intellectual foundations of our country, and are interested in learning about a brilliant, amazing man.