PRESIDENCY OF THOMAS JEFFERSON - Essay Example

er at the White House – with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."(Wikipedia Jefferson.) This staunch advocate of liberty and religious freedom, was born on April 13 1743 in Albemarle County, Virginia. A diligent student, he graduated with top honors from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg in 1762, and then went on to study law, being admitted to the Virginia bar in 1767. He had a passion for learning languages and began studying Latin Greek and French very early.

At college he was introduced to the writings of John Locke, Francis Bacon and Isaac Newton whom he referred to as the "three greatest men the world had ever produced."(Bernstein Jefferson pg 95). This “Man of the People” as he was fondly known, had numerous achievements to his credit, but he wanted to be remembered as the founder of the University of Virginia, the author of the Declaration of American Independence and the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom. His dream of founding a new institution of higher learning, where students could specialize in new areas; was realized in 1819, with the founding of the University of Virginia.

When it opened in 1825, it was then the first university to offer elective courses to its students. Jefferson is widely recognized for his architectural planning of the University grounds, an innovative design whose center was the library which he considered to be the fountainhead of knowledge. His educational idea of creating specialized units of learning is physically expressed in the layout of his campus plan, which he called the "Academical Village”. Jefferson died on the Fourth of July, 1826, at the age of 83 on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, that he had authored.

The Jefferson presidency (1801 – 1809)was the first to start and end in the White House although at the time it was known as the Presidential Mansion. It was a turbulent time in American history. His first term