![]() Stronger than any commitment to abstract principle, the impulse for pragmatic political maneuvering, Meacham insists, always predominated. As he accumulated power, he exercised it ruthlessly, often deviating from the ideals of limited government he had previously-and eternally-articulated. ![]() Born to the Virginia aristocracy, Jefferson effectively disguised his drive for control, charming foes and enlisting allies to conduct battles on his behalf. His portrait of our most enigmatic president intentionally highlights career episodes that illustrate Jefferson’s penchant for balancing competing interests and for compromises that, nevertheless, advanced his own political goals. These achievements and many more, Time contributing editor Meacham ( American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, 2008, etc.) smoothly argues, would have been impossible if the endlessly complicated Jefferson were merely the dreamy, impractical philosopher king his detractors imagined. As president, he doubled the size of the United States without firing a shot and established a political dynasty that stretched over four decades. ![]() ![]() As a diplomat, he mentored a similar revolution in France. A Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer lauds the political genius of Thomas Jefferson.Īs a citizen, Jefferson became a central leader in America’s rebellion against the world’s greatest empire. ![]()
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