Thomas Jefferson - Personified Versatility - Term Paper Example

Thomas Jefferson: Versatility Personified It is indeed true that Thomas Jefferson happened to be a patriot of impeccable stature, endowed with astute abilities in varied spheres of life. Many famous political leaders around the world were significantly influenced by Thomas Jefferson’s views pertaining to democracy, liberty, democratic rights and freedom. It is a fact that Thomas Jefferson happened to be one amongst the elite pool of American leaders who accomplished much within a single lifetime. Thomas Jefferson is mostly known by the students of politics and history to be the draftsman of the Declaration of Independence and the third President of the United States of America. Yet, the thing that indeed needs to be mentioned is that Thomas Jefferson happened to be a man endowed with much versatility which he amply exhibited in varied important roles such as the Governor of Virginia, the man who founded the University of Virginia, a gifted political thinker and philosopher, Vice President of America, an astute ambassador and an architect and an inventor (Meacham, 2013). Practically, in his life, Thomas Jefferson faced a plethora of challenges, and issues. While facing such challenges, Thomas Jefferson evinced a remarkable ability for out of the box thinking, ingenuity and panache for abiding by deeply held values and convictions. It is not without a reason that even in the current times when the political and social values defining America have registered a change, the nation still looks up to this luminary for direction, confidence and conviction. In that context, the quality of leadership exhibited by this great man happened to be utterly rare in its substance and potential. Thomas Jefferson was able to accomplish so much in his life owing to his vast knowledge in varied disciplines, his ability to express unpopular and difficult political opinions, his intense ability to focus on the issues at hand, and his openness to learning from the opinions professed by others. There is no denying the fact that it is next to impossible to delve on the achievements and abilities of a man like Thomas Jefferson, within a span of a few thousand words. What any humble student can at the most attempts is, to succinctly elaborate on a few achievements of this great person. In that context, the most well known and unforgettable achievement of Thomas Jefferson was that he happened to be the writer who drafted the Declaration of Independence. Declaration of Independence happened to be one of the few historical documents that not only determined and set the course of a nation, but also served as a beacon that directed a host of nations striving for ideals like freedom, liberty and human dignity. Jefferson’s role as the author of the Declaration is of immense importance because it is a document that voiced the ideals that supported the Revolution and thereby this Declaration did serve as a guiding star and a source of inspiration for many future democracies (Knapp, 2013). Hence, the Declaration of Independence was not only a document declaring the influx of democracy in the United States of America, but it also had a personal implication in the sense that it reflected on the character of Thomas Jefferson and the ideals and values that motivated this great personality. The thing that does need to be recognized is that Jefferson was able to compile such a document that was imbued with the thoughts of some of the most well known Western liberal thinkers and philosophers like Locke, owing to his elaborate scholarship and the knowledge that Jefferson had pertaining to the Western history and philosophy (Noonan, 2010). Hence, it would indeed be true to say that the Declaration of Independence in a way indicated the vast expanse and sweep of Thomas Jefferson’s erudition, knowledge and scholarship. It does need to be understood that the compilation of such a document of immense political and historical significance required an author gifted with unparalleled scholarship and discerning humility. It is true that much of the ideas expressed in the Declaration of Independence were culled by Thomas Jefferson from the works of many other salient scholars and thinkers. However, the talent of Jefferson lay in bringing together such singular ideas and to compile them into a single work that evinced an inspiring and meaningful sense. It is but only a few scholars and wise men that are able to condense and compress the wisdom of the ages in a work imminent on an immediate context and imbue it with a sense of direction and values that turns out to be timeless and eternal. All this was made possible because Jefferson happened to be a versatile scholar who was not only well read in philosophy, history, law, science and religion, but could also converse in five languages (Meacham, 2013). It was but a fact that Thomas Jefferson happened to be one of the most well read and erudite philosopher and thinker of his times who was as open to a conviction based on personal knowledge, as to a sense of humility willing to learn and benefit from the opinion of others. Though being the son of a Welsh farmer, Jefferson did arm himself with much knowledge and facts. The one other ability that set Jefferson apart from other contemporaries is that he was always open to learning from the views expressed by others. For instance while drafting the Declaration of Independence; he did not hesitate from benefitting from the views and opinions of the contemporary luminaries like John Adams and the wise Benjamin Franklin (Noonan, 2013). Jefferson’s ability to do so was indicative of his potential for brining in much understanding and conviction on the situation at hand by compiling the collective wisdom of his contemporaries committed to a common cause. It was Jefferson’s unmatched knowledge combined with his talent for considering and accommodating different and diverse opinions that accrued to him an important place in the politics of his times. Though Jefferson did accomplish much, serving in varied important political positions, yet one other remarkable feat that could saliently be attributed to Jefferson was the enactment of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786 (Walker, 2013). This historical bill was drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1779, which became a law in the year 1786 (Walker, 2013). It does need to be mentioned that the idea of religious freedom was something that was unheard and unthought-of in those times, and thereby the drafting of a statute that talked of extending religious freedom to the religious minorities and that stressed on the separation between the state and the Church, by Jefferson was a remarkable act of contemplation and political assertion. It would indeed be true to say that Jefferson’s ability for grasping and committing to the idea of religious freedom, if considered in the light of global political thought of those times, one simply cannot help marveling the prophetic foresightedness of Thomas Jefferson. In fact the idea of religious freedom happened to be a revolutionary notion in those times. Religious freedom was a notion that was seldom understood and adhered to by most of the enlightened minds of those times. It was considered all right to expect the religious minorities to tow the line set by the religious and ethnic majority. The persecution of and suppression of the religious minorities was quiet common in those days and thereby the ability of a politician like Jefferson to empathize with the cause of the religious minorities, amply exhibited his courage to voice and stand by the ideas that happened to be controversial and not popular (Walker, 2013). It was this bill envisaged and introduced by Thomas Jefferson that forever cemented the ideas of religious freedom and separation of religion and the state in the American democracy. In other words, the contemporary Americans simply cannot grasp and contemplate the extent to which the idea of religious freedom supported by this great personality shaped the course, direction and scope of the modern day America. There is no doubt that as the President of the United States of America, the achievements of Jefferson indeed happened to be commendable and praiseworthy. In the year 1803, President Thomas Jefferson almost doubled the territories of the United States of America by purchasing from France the Louisiana Territory for a sum of $15 million (Miller Centre, 2014). If one starts contemplating the strategic and economic ramifications of this act of Thomas Jefferson, it would be simply impossible to express them in terms of conclusive and finite figures and data. This act to a large extent depicted the foresightedness and political dexterity of this great American leader and politician. Jefferson was a strong supporter of the rights of the states and unlike his predecessor, John Adams; Jefferson was a staunch opponent of the centralization of the political power and authority (Miller Center, 2014). These views and commitments of Jefferson may not sound astounding to the modern day readers, yet if interpreted in the context of the times in which Jefferson lived, they seem nothing short of being revolutionary and trend setting. Such ideational commitments and loyalties expressed the expanse and strength of the vision that this timeless politician harbored as a national leader and thinker. The other peculiar thing about Jefferson was that besides being a great political thinker and a luminary, he also happened to possess a talent for financial management and economic planning. These attributes of Jefferson were amply exhibited during his tenure as the President. To any scholar having even a modicum of economic sense, this will sound utterly unbelievable that as the President, he curtailed the national debt by almost 25 percent by shrinking the Federal spending (Miller Centre, 2014). It must almost be mentioned that during this time President Jefferson also did much to curtail the scope and size of the Federal bureaucracy and reduced the government spending on the armed forces (Miller Centre, 2014). All these achievements of Jefferson amply depict that his leadership style was such that laid stress on focusing on the issues at hand and he did not happen to shy away from professing and enacting political and economic views that were deemed to be unpalatable and controversial. This ability really happened to be a rarity in the times of President Jefferson. Any account of Thomas Jefferson’s life would be totally incomplete unless it does make an empathic reference to Jefferson’s role as the founder of the University of Virginia. The amazing thing about the University of Virginia was that it happened to be the first secular university in the United States of America (de Vise, 2012). Jefferson not only did much to establish and start this great academic institution, but also happened to be the salient guiding influence behind the University of Virginia. In that context the nation cannot deny the services rendered by Thomas Jefferson as an educationist. Jefferson not only strongly believed in the value of education but also held that the notion of individual freedom could not be conceived without attaching it to education (de Vise, 2012). That is why he laid the foundations of the University of Virginia so as to make the modern education easily accessible to the citizens. The amazing thing about Jefferson was that he stood out as being a strong defender of the individual liberties against any claims made by the state. Hence, it would not be wrong to say that Thomas Jefferson in fact happened to be an apt personification of versatility. As a national leader and the President of the United States of America, Thomas Jefferson evinced a remarkable capacity for adopting the values and ideas emanating from other thinkers and philosophers and to mould them with a sense of pragmatism and vision, which determined the scope and direction of a nascent and young democracy. The variegated nature of his knowledge touched varied disciplines like philosophy, science, law and religion, and he had the capacity to blend together the disparate ideas to eke out an idea of freedom and liberty, which still continues to guide and inspire the American democracy. It is almost next to impossible to quantify and determine the political, strategic and economic gains made by America, going by the visionary leadership and influence of this man who was far ahead of his times in more than one way. This true leader of the masses never shied away from listening to and being influenced by the views emanating from his contemporaries and thereby evinced minimal ego hassles, as are often professed by many great personalities of such stature. The political views and ideas of Jefferson happened to be visionary, futuristic and revolutionary. Not only this, but Jefferson did also evince the courage to stand behind and support the ideas that were deemed to be unpopular. Thereby, Thomas Jefferson happened to be a leader whose capacity for contemplation was well balanced by a sound ability for action. No wonder, he happened to be one of the greatest Presidents that America ever had. References American President: Thomas Jefferson. (2014). Miller Centre. Retrieved from http://millercenter.org/president/jefferson de Vise, D. (2012, 5 June). Thomas Jefferson’s Liberal Arts Education. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/college-inc/post/thomas-jeffersons-liberal-arts-education/2012/06/05/gJQA5Gt1FV_blog.html Knap, A. (2013, 4 July). The Undying Words of Thomas Jefferson. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2013/07/04/the-undying-words-of-thomas-jefferson/ Meacham, J. (2013). Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power. Amazon. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jefferson-The-Art-Power/dp/0812979486 Noonan, P. (2010, July 2). A Cold Man’s Warm Words. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748703571704575341403234545296 Walker, J.B. (2013, January 16). Jefferson’s Religious Freedom Statute: Setting the Groundwork for the Separation of Church and State. The Huffington Post. 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