At different times Thomas Jefferson has been claimed by Southern secessionists and Northern abolitionists, New Deal liberals and neoconservatives Now historian Joseph J. Ellis restores our most elusive national icon to human dimensions with insight, sympathy, and superb style, shrewdly sifting the facts from the legends and the rumors. From the drafting of the Declaration of Independence to his retirement in Monticello, Ellis unravels the contradictions of his character, giving us the slaveh... (show more)
At different times Thomas Jefferson has been claimed by Southern secessionists and Northern abolitionists, New Deal liberals and neoconservatives Now historian Joseph J. Ellis restores our most elusive national icon to human dimensions with insight, sympathy, and superb style, shrewdly sifting the facts from the legends and the rumors. From the drafting of the Declaration of Independence to his retirement in Monticello, Ellis unravels the contradictions of his character, giving us the slaveholding libertarian, the enemy of government power who exercised it audaciously as president; and the visionary who remained blind to his own inconsistencies. A marvel of scholarship and a delight to read, American Sphinx is a book whose appeal transcends history buffs and biography fans and provides an essential gloss on the Jeffersonian legacy. (show less)
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This was an excellent book, and I learned a lot, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it if you know nothing about TJ. It isn't really a biography... (show more)
This was an excellent book, and I learned a lot, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it if you know nothing about TJ. It isn't really a biography because it doesn't go through his life and accomplishments minute by minute. It is more of a window into his brain and his character, which is far more interesting and more important, I think. I had a very high opinion of TJ before I read the book, and it did not diminish him in my eyes, but it did change how I see him and how I think about his influence on today's political scene.
The more I learn about each of our founding fathers, the more I am able to see them as "just people," rather than the demigods we make them out to be. They were great, smart, revolutionary men, but they were just people, and they had their ups and downs, flaws and insecurities just like the rest of us. On top of that, I am really starting to hate when people talk about "what the founding fathers thought or meant." Someone who uses a phrase like that knows NOTHING about our founding fathers because, just like us today and just like modern politicians, they didn't all think the same thing. They all had very different visions, goals, and ideas for reaching those goals. The Constitution basically just ended up being a big compromise because everyone wanted something different. And in some ways I think that makes the founding of our country even more meaningful. (show less)
This book is acceptable as an overview of Jefferson's life and thinking but lacking as a biography. It glossed over periods of Jefferson's life as... (show more)
This book is acceptable as an overview of Jefferson's life and thinking but lacking as a biography. It glossed over periods of Jefferson's life as long as eight years, including his time as Secretary of State and his second term as President. After finishing it, I feel like I need to read another biography of Jefferson to get the full picture. That being said, it is not bad if you simply accept it for what it is--an incomplete picture of an extremely complex and elusive man. (show less)
As my journey through the American Revolution continued, this was the first book I read on Jefferson. I think it was a great maiden voyage, as it provided true insight into his thinking and his character (as the title implies).
I can honestly say I had very little opinion of Jefferson before reading the book other than obvious admiration for a man who was able to so specifically summarize what I have come to understand over the last 6 months as the true foundation of the revolution itse... (show more)
As my journey through the American Revolution continued, this was the first book I read on Jefferson. I think it was a great maiden voyage, as it provided true insight into his thinking and his character (as the title implies).
I can honestly say I had very little opinion of Jefferson before reading the book other than obvious admiration for a man who was able to so specifically summarize what I have come to understand over the last 6 months as the true foundation of the revolution itself in The Declaration.
While much is still unclear about him in my mind - Ellis goes to great lengths to make sure the reader understands that in his opinion it is near impossible to totally understand Jefferson and his motives - I do now have a much better understanding of the man and how he clearly stood out in The Revolution. He, more than any of the other founding fathers, believed that revolution meant rising up against oppression (whatever kind) to achieve a final state of euphoria that could only be present amongst the harmony of ungoverned people. The issue, as Ellis points out and apparently people like Adams and Madison pointed out to Jefferson at the time, was that this state was impossible.
Jefferson always had the ability think and write with a strong visionary tone but separate, as Ellis puts it, the details from the vision. He wrote about the evils of slavery even though he had over 100 slaves. He built the Republican party on the premise of not only less government but almost zero government - until the Louisiana Purchase and his desire to govern the frontier under what was basically a second federal government. His Generational theory of forgiveness, in my opinion, bordered on psychotic until Ellis gives you the background and insights in a way that makes it seam feasible.
Jefferson is truly an interesting character, more so than any of the other fathers I have read about and Ellis does a great job of trying to get into his head. I enjoyed the book itself, but more than that I enjoyed learning about Jefferson, his thoughts on 'genuine republicanism', his influence over Madison and Monroe, his overwhelming hatred for the Supreme Court and Marshall in particular and perhaps most interesting, his genuine desire to avoid the public eye and how he balanced that with what he believed to be his role in carrying on the "Spirit of '76".
I think this will be my first of more books I read on Jefferson and would absolutely read another book by Ellis. (show less)
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Why do all vastly different American groups claim Jefferson as their own? Because he normally wrote above specialties in the high minded prose of the dreamer where vagueness can be grabbed by various different minded parties.
A contrast in personal character, the slave owner who wished for the abolition of slavery. The man in massive debt who fought for a fiscally responsible US. The man who loathed executive central power who purchased huge territories from the French all on his own.
... (show more)
Why do all vastly different American groups claim Jefferson as their own? Because he normally wrote above specialties in the high minded prose of the dreamer where vagueness can be grabbed by various different minded parties.
A contrast in personal character, the slave owner who wished for the abolition of slavery. The man in massive debt who fought for a fiscally responsible US. The man who loathed executive central power who purchased huge territories from the French all on his own.
An interesting read to be sure. Not a biography per se, but more of an examination of the thought processes of the man. Of course the famed correspondence between Adams and Jefferson was covered in detail. What's nice thought is that Ellis freely admits both authors were by this point saving their letters to be read by future generations and so this probably has much to do why they're so good. Usually historians don't acknowledge this important detail.
Why does any man run for reelection as President? Even if the first terms are stellar, the second NEVER is so. Even Washington had a rougher second term. Jefferson had maybe the most stellar first term ever only to be followed by a disastrous second. (show less)
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