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Jefferson and His Time #5
Jefferson the President: Second Term, 1805-1809
Malone, Dumas, Second Term 1805-0809: Jefferson the President
704 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1974
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564 people want to read
About the author
Dumas Malone
158 books29 followersDumas Malone, 1892–1986, spent thirty-eight years researching and writing Jefferson and His Time. In 1975 he received the Pulitzer Prize in history for the first five volumes. From 1923 to 1929 he taught at the University of Virginia; he left there to join the Dictionary of American Biography, bringing that work to completion as editor-in-chief. Subsequently, he served for seven years as director of the Harvard University Press. After serving on the faculties of Yale and Columbia, Malone retired to the University of Virginia in 1959 as the Jefferson Foundation Professor of History, a position he held until his retirement in 1962. He remained at the university as biographer-in-residence and finished his Jefferson biography at the University of Virginia, where it was begun.
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February 20, 2023
The Jefferson Administration’s often difficult second term receives a thorough exegesis in Jefferson the President: Second Term, 1805-1809 – the fifth volume of Jefferson and His Time, Dumas Malone’s 6-volume (!) biography of Thomas Jefferson. Composing in a mellifluous and flowing style, and working from a standpoint of strong sympathy for his subject, Malone, a long-time professor at the University of Virginia that Jefferson founded, provides a comprehensive look at the often-challenging second term of the third President of the United States of America.
Returning to Jefferson the President: Second Term, 1805-1809, after having first read it as an undergraduate student at the College of William and Mary (Jefferson’s alma mater – he was Class of 1762, I was Class of 1984), I found myself reflecting on how often a U.S. President’s second term is much more difficult than their first. To date, 21 U.S. Presidents have been re-elected to a second term after having served a first – an expression of voter approval and confidence that most presidents have avidly sought. Yet so general has the trend toward second-term problems been that some commentators talk of a “second-term curse.”
It makes one wonder that a president who has enjoyed a successful first term doesn’t simply step away from the Resolute Desk, walk out of the Oval Office, tell the American people “Thank you; I did my best,” and retire with dignity to post-presidential life. But the famously rationalistic Jefferson would not have set much stock in the idea of a “second-term curse”; and his status as only the second U.S. President to be elected to a second term meant that there was not yet any talk of such a curse.
It is often the case, in an American president’s second term, that events outside that president’s control do much to define the problems that that president faces. In the case of the second term of the Jefferson Administration, those events centered around the Napoleonic Wars between France and Great Britain that had begun in 1803, during Jefferson’s first term. Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican party, historically, had been more friendly to France; and the great achievement of Jefferson’s first term had been the Louisiana Purchase wherein Jefferson had purchased the Louisiana Territory from Napoleonic France, thereby doubling the size of the young United States of America.
But Jefferson knew that there was nothing to be gained by siding with either France or Great Britain in the terrible war raging across the seas, and therefore all of the major foreign-policy measures that his administration undertook during his second term had as their aim the maintenance of U.S. neutrality.
The administration’s measures, regrettably, were not terribly effective at getting either Great Britain or France to respect American neutrality. Characteristic in that regard was the Non-Importation Act of April 1806, passed amidst harsh Congressional criticism of British policy specifically. Based in a recognition “that the cutting off of all imports would drastically reduce the government’s revenue and deprive Americans of accustomed articles they could not themselves produce”, the act established a list of proscribed goods so limited that John Randolph of Roanoke famously dismissed it as “A milk-and-water bill, a dose of chicken broth” (pp. 109-10).
A happier time, for Jefferson and his administration, related to the successful return of explorers Lewis and Clark from their great transcontinental expedition. When Jefferson received Meriwether’s October 1806 letter announcing the safe return of the expedition, Jefferson responded in what Malone aptly calls “terms of personal affection rather than official congratulation”, sounding more like a relieved father than a satisfied chief executive when he wrote that “The unknown scenes in which you were engaged, and the length of time without hearing of you, had begun to be felt awfully” (p. 199).
Lewis and Clark brought back a wealth of plant, animal, and mineral specimens that fascinated the science-minded president. And leaders of the Mandan and Sioux Nations, who traveled east with Lewis & Clark, received a courteous White House reception from President Jefferson, whose interest in Native American culture went back at least as far as Jefferson’s writing of his book Notes on the State of Virginia (1781).
But the success of the Lewis & Clark expedition was a relatively rare respite in what was often a troubled term for President Jefferson. A good bit of the trouble of that troubled second term occurred because of Aaron Burr, the man who had been Jefferson’s own Vice President during Jefferson’s first term. Dropped from the ticket by Jefferson before the 1804 election, and besmirched with scandal after he killed Alexander Hamilton in the well-known duel of July 1804, Burr had become unelectable to anything by the time he traveled into the new states and territories of the American Southwest and began secretively conspiring to do – something. Whatever Burr may have been conspiring to do, he was arrested in Mississippi Territory (now Alabama) in 1807, and charged with treason.
What exactly was Burr trying to do? Jefferson thought that the ever-duplicitous Burr – known to viewers of the modern musical Hamilton as the man advising a young Alexander Hamilton to “Talk less, smile more” – was a seditionist, seeking to detach the American Southwest (meaning Kentucky and points south) from the rest of the Union and establish a new nation of his own. Others thought that Burr was seeking to organize an early example of a “filibuster,” a prospective expedition to take land from Mexico and annex it to the United States of America.
Whatever the case might be – whether, in fact, Burr was trying to organize his own new “Republic of Burrsylvania” or not – the treason trials that followed acquitted Burr and covered no one in honor. Jefferson was charged, by his political opponents, with pursuing a bitter personal vendetta against a man he had always disliked. Burr cemented his reputation as a thoroughgoing scoundrel. And Chief Justice John Marshall, who presided over the trial, left his judicial objectivity open to serious question when, among other things, he joined Burr at a dinner hosted by Burr’s lead defense lawyer, John Wickham!
And then there were the recurring problems of foreign relations, specifically with Great Britain. For some time, the Royal Navy had been stopping American ships and engaging in “impressment” – taking off those ships any sailors the British captain assumed, or pretended to assume, were British sailors who had deserted to the Americans. Jefferson himself wrote that “On the impressment of our seamen our remonstrances have never been intermitted” (p. 400) – but the British paid little attention to those remonstrances.
The American wish to stop both French and British violations of U.S. neutrality led to passage of the Embargo Act of 1807 – an act that cut off U.S. commerce with the rest of the world generally. One can see why Jefferson might have thought and hoped that the act would work: it was non-violent, it kept the United States out of war, and Jefferson no doubt believed that the power and dynamism of the American economy would cause the warring European powers to sit up and take notice.
But the embargo caused great economic hardship, particularly in the New England states where Jefferson’s Federalist opposition already held great strength; and Great Britain and France, locked in their deadly struggle, paid the Americans and their embargo little mind. Even Malone, always sympathetic to Jefferson, is compelled to acknowledge that Jefferson “did not allow sufficiently for lost commerce and lost markets” (p. 656).
It is no wonder, then, that Jefferson, in 1809, greeted the end of his presidency with a considerable degree of relief – and, no doubt, with a certain degree of satisfaction that the voters had elected, in the person of James Madison, a successor president from the same political party. Only seven other two-term presidents in American history (Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Reagan) have received that final vote of confidence from the American electorate. “With the consent of the Madisons, [Jefferson] took his time in collecting his belongings and getting out of the President’s House; but he vacated it without regret, and with unfeigned joy took the road back to Monticello” (p. 668).
When he left the presidency, Thomas Jefferson, then 65 years old, still had almost two decades of life left to him – years that Malone would explore in one final volume of his multi-volume biography. Jefferson the President: Second Term, 1805-1809, published in 1974, is definitely old-school biography; readers looking for critical scrutiny of Jefferson’s often contradictory attitudes on race will not find much of such scrutiny here. But what one will find is a thoughtful, well-written, thoroughly researched account of the second term of an important American president – a work that future presidents could benefit from reading, as they face the difficulties and challenges of their own administrations.
Returning to Jefferson the President: Second Term, 1805-1809, after having first read it as an undergraduate student at the College of William and Mary (Jefferson’s alma mater – he was Class of 1762, I was Class of 1984), I found myself reflecting on how often a U.S. President’s second term is much more difficult than their first. To date, 21 U.S. Presidents have been re-elected to a second term after having served a first – an expression of voter approval and confidence that most presidents have avidly sought. Yet so general has the trend toward second-term problems been that some commentators talk of a “second-term curse.”
It makes one wonder that a president who has enjoyed a successful first term doesn’t simply step away from the Resolute Desk, walk out of the Oval Office, tell the American people “Thank you; I did my best,” and retire with dignity to post-presidential life. But the famously rationalistic Jefferson would not have set much stock in the idea of a “second-term curse”; and his status as only the second U.S. President to be elected to a second term meant that there was not yet any talk of such a curse.
It is often the case, in an American president’s second term, that events outside that president’s control do much to define the problems that that president faces. In the case of the second term of the Jefferson Administration, those events centered around the Napoleonic Wars between France and Great Britain that had begun in 1803, during Jefferson’s first term. Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican party, historically, had been more friendly to France; and the great achievement of Jefferson’s first term had been the Louisiana Purchase wherein Jefferson had purchased the Louisiana Territory from Napoleonic France, thereby doubling the size of the young United States of America.
But Jefferson knew that there was nothing to be gained by siding with either France or Great Britain in the terrible war raging across the seas, and therefore all of the major foreign-policy measures that his administration undertook during his second term had as their aim the maintenance of U.S. neutrality.
The administration’s measures, regrettably, were not terribly effective at getting either Great Britain or France to respect American neutrality. Characteristic in that regard was the Non-Importation Act of April 1806, passed amidst harsh Congressional criticism of British policy specifically. Based in a recognition “that the cutting off of all imports would drastically reduce the government’s revenue and deprive Americans of accustomed articles they could not themselves produce”, the act established a list of proscribed goods so limited that John Randolph of Roanoke famously dismissed it as “A milk-and-water bill, a dose of chicken broth” (pp. 109-10).
A happier time, for Jefferson and his administration, related to the successful return of explorers Lewis and Clark from their great transcontinental expedition. When Jefferson received Meriwether’s October 1806 letter announcing the safe return of the expedition, Jefferson responded in what Malone aptly calls “terms of personal affection rather than official congratulation”, sounding more like a relieved father than a satisfied chief executive when he wrote that “The unknown scenes in which you were engaged, and the length of time without hearing of you, had begun to be felt awfully” (p. 199).
Lewis and Clark brought back a wealth of plant, animal, and mineral specimens that fascinated the science-minded president. And leaders of the Mandan and Sioux Nations, who traveled east with Lewis & Clark, received a courteous White House reception from President Jefferson, whose interest in Native American culture went back at least as far as Jefferson’s writing of his book Notes on the State of Virginia (1781).
But the success of the Lewis & Clark expedition was a relatively rare respite in what was often a troubled term for President Jefferson. A good bit of the trouble of that troubled second term occurred because of Aaron Burr, the man who had been Jefferson’s own Vice President during Jefferson’s first term. Dropped from the ticket by Jefferson before the 1804 election, and besmirched with scandal after he killed Alexander Hamilton in the well-known duel of July 1804, Burr had become unelectable to anything by the time he traveled into the new states and territories of the American Southwest and began secretively conspiring to do – something. Whatever Burr may have been conspiring to do, he was arrested in Mississippi Territory (now Alabama) in 1807, and charged with treason.
What exactly was Burr trying to do? Jefferson thought that the ever-duplicitous Burr – known to viewers of the modern musical Hamilton as the man advising a young Alexander Hamilton to “Talk less, smile more” – was a seditionist, seeking to detach the American Southwest (meaning Kentucky and points south) from the rest of the Union and establish a new nation of his own. Others thought that Burr was seeking to organize an early example of a “filibuster,” a prospective expedition to take land from Mexico and annex it to the United States of America.
Whatever the case might be – whether, in fact, Burr was trying to organize his own new “Republic of Burrsylvania” or not – the treason trials that followed acquitted Burr and covered no one in honor. Jefferson was charged, by his political opponents, with pursuing a bitter personal vendetta against a man he had always disliked. Burr cemented his reputation as a thoroughgoing scoundrel. And Chief Justice John Marshall, who presided over the trial, left his judicial objectivity open to serious question when, among other things, he joined Burr at a dinner hosted by Burr’s lead defense lawyer, John Wickham!
And then there were the recurring problems of foreign relations, specifically with Great Britain. For some time, the Royal Navy had been stopping American ships and engaging in “impressment” – taking off those ships any sailors the British captain assumed, or pretended to assume, were British sailors who had deserted to the Americans. Jefferson himself wrote that “On the impressment of our seamen our remonstrances have never been intermitted” (p. 400) – but the British paid little attention to those remonstrances.
The American wish to stop both French and British violations of U.S. neutrality led to passage of the Embargo Act of 1807 – an act that cut off U.S. commerce with the rest of the world generally. One can see why Jefferson might have thought and hoped that the act would work: it was non-violent, it kept the United States out of war, and Jefferson no doubt believed that the power and dynamism of the American economy would cause the warring European powers to sit up and take notice.
But the embargo caused great economic hardship, particularly in the New England states where Jefferson’s Federalist opposition already held great strength; and Great Britain and France, locked in their deadly struggle, paid the Americans and their embargo little mind. Even Malone, always sympathetic to Jefferson, is compelled to acknowledge that Jefferson “did not allow sufficiently for lost commerce and lost markets” (p. 656).
It is no wonder, then, that Jefferson, in 1809, greeted the end of his presidency with a considerable degree of relief – and, no doubt, with a certain degree of satisfaction that the voters had elected, in the person of James Madison, a successor president from the same political party. Only seven other two-term presidents in American history (Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Reagan) have received that final vote of confidence from the American electorate. “With the consent of the Madisons, [Jefferson] took his time in collecting his belongings and getting out of the President’s House; but he vacated it without regret, and with unfeigned joy took the road back to Monticello” (p. 668).
When he left the presidency, Thomas Jefferson, then 65 years old, still had almost two decades of life left to him – years that Malone would explore in one final volume of his multi-volume biography. Jefferson the President: Second Term, 1805-1809, published in 1974, is definitely old-school biography; readers looking for critical scrutiny of Jefferson’s often contradictory attitudes on race will not find much of such scrutiny here. But what one will find is a thoughtful, well-written, thoroughly researched account of the second term of an important American president – a work that future presidents could benefit from reading, as they face the difficulties and challenges of their own administrations.
December 6, 2013
http://bestpresidentialbios.com/2013/...
“Jefferson the President: Second Term” is the fifth of six volumes in Dumas Malone’s groundbreaking biographical work on Thomas Jefferson. Published in 1974, this book is the longest of any in the series. Soon after completing this volume, and more than three decades after beginning work on the series, Malone received the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for history.
By this point in the series, Malone has long-settled into a familiar, comfortable style of writing which is clear and cogent, though somewhat dry. Readers expecting an enchanting, carefree description of events will again be disappointed. Malone’s meticulous research underpins a writing style which is consistently expansive and thorough, and will test the casual reader’s tenacity.
Most scholars, Malone included, view Jefferson’s second term as having been less successful than his first. Similarly, readers are likely to find the description of Jefferson’s first term (in Malone’s fourth volume) more absorbing than the description of events here, in Jefferson’s second term. Where the earlier volume provides a gripping account of Jefferson’s struggle with a Federalist-dominated judiciary, the Louisiana Purchase and the launch of the Lewis and Clark expedition, this volume labors under the burden of the Burr/Wilkinson affair and the imposition and enforcement of an unpopular trade embargo. The former episode alone accounts for nearly one-quarter of the book.
In familiar style, Malone vigorously describes Jefferson’s “work” life but we learn almost nothing more of his domestic life or his family. Little more is betrayed of his inner-most thoughts, including those we might imagine could be revealed through his personal correspondence. This lack of additional insight may be due, in part, to the diminishing size of his family and his fewer opportunities to exchange personal letters (his wife and all but one child having died by his second term).
By far, the best feature of this book is Malone’s introduction. Regular readers of Malone’s series on Jefferson quickly find that his introductory chapters are an excellent guidepost for each volume, providing a concise, articulate preview of the forthcoming pages. Increasingly, Malone’s introductory comments also seem to serve as the repository of his most insightful analysis of the period and of Jefferson’s performance. After completing this volume, I re-read the introduction and found it to be by far the most rewarding and productive moments I spent with this book.
“Jefferson the President: Second Term” is the most detailed and complicated of Malone’s volumes, and also one of the most bittersweet. For although the reader can delight in having survived the multi-volume journey thus far and see immediately ahead Jefferson’s final (and some say most productive) years, the decline of his influence and leadership in his last years of public office is both palpable and poignant.
Rather than finishing his presidency with one final vigorous political flourish, Malone describes a President Jefferson almost eager to walk away from the seemingly intractable remaining challenges of his presidency, handing the reins to his successor and close ally (whose campaign and election is almost entirely uncovered). Jefferson, like nearly all presidents serving multiple terms, seems physically and intellectually worn down from the ravages of time and friction, but the stage is nicely set for Malone’s final volume in this long adventure.
Overall rating: 3¾ stars
“Jefferson the President: Second Term” is the fifth of six volumes in Dumas Malone’s groundbreaking biographical work on Thomas Jefferson. Published in 1974, this book is the longest of any in the series. Soon after completing this volume, and more than three decades after beginning work on the series, Malone received the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for history.
By this point in the series, Malone has long-settled into a familiar, comfortable style of writing which is clear and cogent, though somewhat dry. Readers expecting an enchanting, carefree description of events will again be disappointed. Malone’s meticulous research underpins a writing style which is consistently expansive and thorough, and will test the casual reader’s tenacity.
Most scholars, Malone included, view Jefferson’s second term as having been less successful than his first. Similarly, readers are likely to find the description of Jefferson’s first term (in Malone’s fourth volume) more absorbing than the description of events here, in Jefferson’s second term. Where the earlier volume provides a gripping account of Jefferson’s struggle with a Federalist-dominated judiciary, the Louisiana Purchase and the launch of the Lewis and Clark expedition, this volume labors under the burden of the Burr/Wilkinson affair and the imposition and enforcement of an unpopular trade embargo. The former episode alone accounts for nearly one-quarter of the book.
In familiar style, Malone vigorously describes Jefferson’s “work” life but we learn almost nothing more of his domestic life or his family. Little more is betrayed of his inner-most thoughts, including those we might imagine could be revealed through his personal correspondence. This lack of additional insight may be due, in part, to the diminishing size of his family and his fewer opportunities to exchange personal letters (his wife and all but one child having died by his second term).
By far, the best feature of this book is Malone’s introduction. Regular readers of Malone’s series on Jefferson quickly find that his introductory chapters are an excellent guidepost for each volume, providing a concise, articulate preview of the forthcoming pages. Increasingly, Malone’s introductory comments also seem to serve as the repository of his most insightful analysis of the period and of Jefferson’s performance. After completing this volume, I re-read the introduction and found it to be by far the most rewarding and productive moments I spent with this book.
“Jefferson the President: Second Term” is the most detailed and complicated of Malone’s volumes, and also one of the most bittersweet. For although the reader can delight in having survived the multi-volume journey thus far and see immediately ahead Jefferson’s final (and some say most productive) years, the decline of his influence and leadership in his last years of public office is both palpable and poignant.
Rather than finishing his presidency with one final vigorous political flourish, Malone describes a President Jefferson almost eager to walk away from the seemingly intractable remaining challenges of his presidency, handing the reins to his successor and close ally (whose campaign and election is almost entirely uncovered). Jefferson, like nearly all presidents serving multiple terms, seems physically and intellectually worn down from the ravages of time and friction, but the stage is nicely set for Malone’s final volume in this long adventure.
Overall rating: 3¾ stars
December 17, 2011
This is by far the weightiest, busiest and most complicated of the series. This volume details the last portion of Jefferson's political life, immediately prior to his retirement, and thus is marked by a sense of urgency, of time dwindling and affairs hastily put in order. Jefferson has heretofore seemed quite the equal, if not the superior, of the multitude of problems that have dogged his Presidency, swiftly reacting with executive or legal measures to see that his defining agenda of individual liberty and national self-sufficiency has always remained paramount. In the present volume, we see the slow diminishing of his influence (though not of his commitment) and the gradual shift of events beyond the realm of his control.
There are marks of the earlier, more effective Jefferson. Early on, the account of his continued patronage of the natural
sciences and the affairs of the exploration parties that were an integral part of that patronage set the tone for the rest of the volume. Jefferson seems most at peace when occupied with these happier, and nonpolitical, pursuits, but he is soon entangled in the mess of politics. The national mood is one that seeks to preserve private power, and one that distrusts governmental centralization of power. The irony is that Jefferson himself has no disagreement with this sentiment, but is nonetheless hounded by the problems it would continually cause.
Foreign affairs, Malone painstakingly relates, were no less complicated or conflicted. Jefferson shows a rare streak of deviousness as he tries to gain control of French West Florida. While this again illustrates the preeminence of the nation's prosperity in Jefferson's mind, it also betrays a more calculating side to Jefferson's character that might have made a very interesting study had Malone devoted more attention to it.
What Malone pays plenty of attention to is the embargo that developed between America and Britain. This disputatious issue appears as the final conflict of the Jefferson administration and is gone over in minute detail. Like practically every other issue of Jefferson's presidency, the embargo was met with both opposition and support, both fervent. The account of this contentious issue, while laborious, is, as usual with Malone, brilliantly illustrative of the larger-scale divisions in the national body. This single issue, laid out in all it's complexity amd controversy, sets the scene for the political polarization of the country. At this late juncture in his series, Malone hasn't the time to finish this subplot, but the raw material is rich and fertile ground for thought and study.
Jefferson himself devotes no time to that issue. At the close of the volume, he is content to be relieved of his duties, confident in the rightness of his actions (though one might argue they were less effective than ever before in his presidency), and eager to retire to his beloved Monticello.
This is a big book to digest, but one worth the effort, in spite of the few information-bare spots, the one-sidedness of a few issues and the lack of human characterizations. It is a major piece of a vast puzzle that is now set for a satisfying finish.
There are marks of the earlier, more effective Jefferson. Early on, the account of his continued patronage of the natural
sciences and the affairs of the exploration parties that were an integral part of that patronage set the tone for the rest of the volume. Jefferson seems most at peace when occupied with these happier, and nonpolitical, pursuits, but he is soon entangled in the mess of politics. The national mood is one that seeks to preserve private power, and one that distrusts governmental centralization of power. The irony is that Jefferson himself has no disagreement with this sentiment, but is nonetheless hounded by the problems it would continually cause.
Foreign affairs, Malone painstakingly relates, were no less complicated or conflicted. Jefferson shows a rare streak of deviousness as he tries to gain control of French West Florida. While this again illustrates the preeminence of the nation's prosperity in Jefferson's mind, it also betrays a more calculating side to Jefferson's character that might have made a very interesting study had Malone devoted more attention to it.
What Malone pays plenty of attention to is the embargo that developed between America and Britain. This disputatious issue appears as the final conflict of the Jefferson administration and is gone over in minute detail. Like practically every other issue of Jefferson's presidency, the embargo was met with both opposition and support, both fervent. The account of this contentious issue, while laborious, is, as usual with Malone, brilliantly illustrative of the larger-scale divisions in the national body. This single issue, laid out in all it's complexity amd controversy, sets the scene for the political polarization of the country. At this late juncture in his series, Malone hasn't the time to finish this subplot, but the raw material is rich and fertile ground for thought and study.
Jefferson himself devotes no time to that issue. At the close of the volume, he is content to be relieved of his duties, confident in the rightness of his actions (though one might argue they were less effective than ever before in his presidency), and eager to retire to his beloved Monticello.
This is a big book to digest, but one worth the effort, in spite of the few information-bare spots, the one-sidedness of a few issues and the lack of human characterizations. It is a major piece of a vast puzzle that is now set for a satisfying finish.
June 11, 2021
This is the fifth out of a six volume, massive biography of Thomas Jefferson. In these hundreds of pages, just his second term as president is covered. As with the other volumes, Malone goes into incredible detail, practically going week by week in Jefferson's life, it seems, for these four years.
I've said this before, and I will say it again: I have read multiple biographies on a bunch of the key individuals of that founding generation of the country, and in all of them, Thomas Jefferson was the villain. Even in Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton's biography, Jefferson comes off as the most ominous and terrible presence in that man's life, and not Aaron Burr.
So many of the people that knew Jefferson best described him as calculating, duplicitous, hypocritical, and arrogant. And yet, for the first four volumes in this current series, Malone has reflexively praised and defended Jefferson in spite of his wrongs. In reference to those, he consistently finds some sort of excuse, reason, or explanation; or shrugs off as not that big of a deal; or chalks it up to regular human foibles.
This has frustrated me, and I have been really looking forward to this fifth volume because to me, this second term of Jefferson's presidency, was the most clearly and self-evidently corrupt and terrible of this man's entire life. I was really curious how Malone was going to approach it.
So how does he fare? As poorly as I had feared.
All of those defense mechanisms I mentioned before, are doubled and tripled down on. Granted, some of Jefferson's worst acts may have only been discovered more recently since this biography was written, but still, it is bewildering to me the pretzels this author will twist himself into just to justify Jefferson or redirect the blame away from him.
Jefferson sics his attorney general and the entire legal apparatus of the federal government against his former vice president for trying to do something that was not even illegal at the time and charging him with treason--and retrying him a couple of times for similar charges trying to get one thing to stick. He does relentless attacks on the Judiciary, defying court orders towards him, claiming immunity simply as President, and was the first president to try to make the argument that he was above the law because he had better things to do than follow court orders about his presidential conduct and business. He takes the country into economic collapse because he makes terrible decisions in diplomacy and ends up cutting off trade from all outside countries, and the next president (his BFF Madison) has to be the one to admit defeat and roll back this failed economic warfare, eventually resulting in the War of 1812. After being swept into the office on his opposition to the Alien and Sedition Acts, Jefferson then turns around and enacts similar legislation when people in the media are criticizing this embargo.
And all along, through this book, Malone has justifications and reasons that he gives for all of it. I understand that the real human subjects of biographies do not fall simply into the flattened caricatures of villains in novels. But you can still say that somebody acted selfishly, or badly, or unwisely.
In this book, Malone's most frequent defense is to blame other people and to say that Jefferson surely could not have known about such and such thing; or to say that Jefferson did not seem to comment on or say anything about a particular matter and so we have to assume the best of him.
Malone says this even though there are a lot of insight about Jefferson we have because of occasional recipients of Jefferson's letters did not follow his instructions to burn the letter so their contents don't get out (which is his "usual custom"). He also tells people in several letters not to write down a certain thing so they can discuss something in person and there not be a written record of it. Malone quotes from all these letters, without pointing out the glaringly obvious fact that there clearly seems to be a huge body of Jefferson's thought and writings we don't know about precisely because of Jefferson's design and him not wanting us to know about it. Therefore, Jefferson himself is not an absolutely trustworthy narrator of his own story. We have to view many of his actions through the eyes of others. And when you do that, you get a much more negative picture of the man than Malone gives.
And yet, just as with the other volumes, I am really torn. When it comes to a portrait of Jefferson, Malone is clearly biased to the point of distortion. I am thousands of pages into Jefferson's life, and I still don't know who the man is, and the picture I have is dramatically different than the one that this author is trying to promote.
And yet, the granular detail in these books is so fascinating and interesting. As pure historical account of how politics, foreign policy, and governance played out, this book is invaluable. Most other biographies of Jefferson devote a 30-page chapter to the Aaron Burr trial, and a 30-page chapter to the embargo--and that's it. And even then, they kind of float above everything and give a bird's-eye view of all that happened.
This book, however, goes day by day into the events surrounding the decisions that caused these events. Malone admirably jumps between diplomatic efforts in other countries and what was going on there, and the discussions that the administration was having amongst themselves here in America while awaiting word from overseas. It shows just how difficult it was to do foreign policy with an ocean between you and the rest of the world, and no electronic communication. We intuitively know that in a sense, but this book really hammers home how that affected things here.
The one exception to this, however, is the single most complicated and convoluted situation Jefferson was ever involved in: the events surrounding Aaron Burr which led to his treason trial. In his attempt to explain all that was happening, Malone gets lost in the trees and loses the forest. I do not think that he prepares the reader with a good overall framework within which to fit these day-by-day (and sometimes hour-by-hour) accounts of what was going on simultaneously with multiple people in multiple places and countries in order to understand this. Other more recent books have done this better, like Nancy Isenberg's Aaron Burr biography, "Fallen Founder", which I cannot recommend highly enough.
And so, as an analysis of Jefferson, this volume once again fails in my view. And yet as a history and an account of the story of his life and those around him, it is invaluable. It is well written and clear and at times almost thrilling. The pacing is well done and Incredibly complicated events are explained comprehensively yet deftly. And so, as long as you go into this volume with a clear view towards Malone's biases, I do think this book is fantastic and a worthy read.
I've said this before, and I will say it again: I have read multiple biographies on a bunch of the key individuals of that founding generation of the country, and in all of them, Thomas Jefferson was the villain. Even in Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton's biography, Jefferson comes off as the most ominous and terrible presence in that man's life, and not Aaron Burr.
So many of the people that knew Jefferson best described him as calculating, duplicitous, hypocritical, and arrogant. And yet, for the first four volumes in this current series, Malone has reflexively praised and defended Jefferson in spite of his wrongs. In reference to those, he consistently finds some sort of excuse, reason, or explanation; or shrugs off as not that big of a deal; or chalks it up to regular human foibles.
This has frustrated me, and I have been really looking forward to this fifth volume because to me, this second term of Jefferson's presidency, was the most clearly and self-evidently corrupt and terrible of this man's entire life. I was really curious how Malone was going to approach it.
So how does he fare? As poorly as I had feared.
All of those defense mechanisms I mentioned before, are doubled and tripled down on. Granted, some of Jefferson's worst acts may have only been discovered more recently since this biography was written, but still, it is bewildering to me the pretzels this author will twist himself into just to justify Jefferson or redirect the blame away from him.
Jefferson sics his attorney general and the entire legal apparatus of the federal government against his former vice president for trying to do something that was not even illegal at the time and charging him with treason--and retrying him a couple of times for similar charges trying to get one thing to stick. He does relentless attacks on the Judiciary, defying court orders towards him, claiming immunity simply as President, and was the first president to try to make the argument that he was above the law because he had better things to do than follow court orders about his presidential conduct and business. He takes the country into economic collapse because he makes terrible decisions in diplomacy and ends up cutting off trade from all outside countries, and the next president (his BFF Madison) has to be the one to admit defeat and roll back this failed economic warfare, eventually resulting in the War of 1812. After being swept into the office on his opposition to the Alien and Sedition Acts, Jefferson then turns around and enacts similar legislation when people in the media are criticizing this embargo.
And all along, through this book, Malone has justifications and reasons that he gives for all of it. I understand that the real human subjects of biographies do not fall simply into the flattened caricatures of villains in novels. But you can still say that somebody acted selfishly, or badly, or unwisely.
In this book, Malone's most frequent defense is to blame other people and to say that Jefferson surely could not have known about such and such thing; or to say that Jefferson did not seem to comment on or say anything about a particular matter and so we have to assume the best of him.
Malone says this even though there are a lot of insight about Jefferson we have because of occasional recipients of Jefferson's letters did not follow his instructions to burn the letter so their contents don't get out (which is his "usual custom"). He also tells people in several letters not to write down a certain thing so they can discuss something in person and there not be a written record of it. Malone quotes from all these letters, without pointing out the glaringly obvious fact that there clearly seems to be a huge body of Jefferson's thought and writings we don't know about precisely because of Jefferson's design and him not wanting us to know about it. Therefore, Jefferson himself is not an absolutely trustworthy narrator of his own story. We have to view many of his actions through the eyes of others. And when you do that, you get a much more negative picture of the man than Malone gives.
And yet, just as with the other volumes, I am really torn. When it comes to a portrait of Jefferson, Malone is clearly biased to the point of distortion. I am thousands of pages into Jefferson's life, and I still don't know who the man is, and the picture I have is dramatically different than the one that this author is trying to promote.
And yet, the granular detail in these books is so fascinating and interesting. As pure historical account of how politics, foreign policy, and governance played out, this book is invaluable. Most other biographies of Jefferson devote a 30-page chapter to the Aaron Burr trial, and a 30-page chapter to the embargo--and that's it. And even then, they kind of float above everything and give a bird's-eye view of all that happened.
This book, however, goes day by day into the events surrounding the decisions that caused these events. Malone admirably jumps between diplomatic efforts in other countries and what was going on there, and the discussions that the administration was having amongst themselves here in America while awaiting word from overseas. It shows just how difficult it was to do foreign policy with an ocean between you and the rest of the world, and no electronic communication. We intuitively know that in a sense, but this book really hammers home how that affected things here.
The one exception to this, however, is the single most complicated and convoluted situation Jefferson was ever involved in: the events surrounding Aaron Burr which led to his treason trial. In his attempt to explain all that was happening, Malone gets lost in the trees and loses the forest. I do not think that he prepares the reader with a good overall framework within which to fit these day-by-day (and sometimes hour-by-hour) accounts of what was going on simultaneously with multiple people in multiple places and countries in order to understand this. Other more recent books have done this better, like Nancy Isenberg's Aaron Burr biography, "Fallen Founder", which I cannot recommend highly enough.
And so, as an analysis of Jefferson, this volume once again fails in my view. And yet as a history and an account of the story of his life and those around him, it is invaluable. It is well written and clear and at times almost thrilling. The pacing is well done and Incredibly complicated events are explained comprehensively yet deftly. And so, as long as you go into this volume with a clear view towards Malone's biases, I do think this book is fantastic and a worthy read.
Read
July 26, 2011This is the 5th volume of 6. Obviously I think well of this series, otherwise I never would have muddled through the previous 4 volumes. And for those of you who are wonder, yes, I do have a life – it has taken me a few years to get this far. I have read more superficially entertaining biographies of Jefferson, but Dumas takes the title for detail and in-depth research. The writing style can be a bit dry, but the sentences written in a clear explicit manner. Stick with it – it grows on you.
This volume takes us through the treachery of Aaron Burr, the voyage of Lewis and Clark, a tussle with the Barbary pirates and the ill-fated embargo policy. Jefferson’s story is another example of why I would never want to be president. Though popular and brilliant, even ‘ol Tom had to continually swat at the gnats buzzing about his ears – damned Federalists.
Pick up this series if you have a serious interest in our Founding Fathers.
This volume takes us through the treachery of Aaron Burr, the voyage of Lewis and Clark, a tussle with the Barbary pirates and the ill-fated embargo policy. Jefferson’s story is another example of why I would never want to be president. Though popular and brilliant, even ‘ol Tom had to continually swat at the gnats buzzing about his ears – damned Federalists.
Pick up this series if you have a serious interest in our Founding Fathers.
April 1, 2018
Volume V of Malone's exhaustive study of Thomas Jefferson covers the latter's second and final term as President. It is significantly longer than Volume IV was (that is NOT a good thing when it comes to this series) mainly because Jefferson faced more vexatious issues starting in 1805 than he did in his relatively tranquil first term. Malone, as has been his custom throughout this series, continues to put Jefferson in the most positive light possible. Fortunately, since most of this volume deals with policy related matters and not as much with Jefferson's personal relations, the pro-Jefferson flavor is less aggressive than it was in the previous volume. Malone, whenever he does criticize Jefferson, does it as gently as possible, invariably assigning the best motives toward his subject.
The second section of the book really bogs down over U.S relations with France, Great Britain, and Spain. The participants, and the countries they represented, all had vague, behind-the-scenes ways of expressing themselves. That, coupled with the snail's pace of communication during this period, led to all sides never possessing current information. Jefferson's reactions to actions taken by the European nations were weeks, sometimes months, behind the actual actions themselves. While this in and of itself would not make for a difficult read, Malone really gets into the weeds, going step-by-step through various correspondence between Jefferson, his cabinet, congressmen, his ministers (ambassadors), and the foreign ministers in the U.S. Unless one is doing research on this time period, or perhaps on U.S.-Spanish relations, this level of detail is tedious to sort through and tends to cloud the overall big picture that Jefferson was tasked with keeping in the forefront of his mind.
Fortunately, after this section comes a well-balanced and detailed though not overly consuming look at the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Jefferson was the instigator of this highly successful and useful continental mission. Malone rightly gives Jefferson credit for having the foresight and curiosity to investigate if there is a water passage that leads from the Mississippi River (via the Missouri River) all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Jefferson was very interested in natural science, geography, climate, and agriculture. Without these varied interests, this expedition may not have taken place for many more years. Malone does tread fairly lightly over Jefferson's Indian policy, but that is probably a fairly accurate portrayal of how little importance Indian affairs were to Jefferson, particularly when his main preoccupations were with Great Britain, France, and Spain.
Malone spends an inordinate amount of time (over 150 pages) covering the treason trial of former Vice President Aaron Burr. While this was a huge event – think about Dick Cheney or Joe Biden trying to start a war with Mexico and possibly get some of the Southern states to secede – Malone goes on for far too long, reviewing testimony in detail. Especially since Jefferson was not directly involved in most of it, I think some brevity would have served readers well here. And at the end of covering these proceedings, he adds another chapter about libel laws during Jefferson's time. I will just say that I was glad to move onto the next section, dealing with escalating tensions with Great Britain.
We do not see as much of the personal side of Jefferson as we do in the other volumes. This is not a criticism – Jefferson's second term, like it is for most Presidents who have them, was a difficult time for the man, causing him migraines and lots of stress. In addition, there just was not as much notable family news during this period. In Volume IV, Jefferson's daughter, Polly, died. Thankfully, he suffered no such tragedy in the years covered here. Malone still likes to fill pages though – this time by including a chapter about the total of four letters exchanged between Jefferson and Russian Tsar Alexander I. Considering that the two men never met and certainly did not develop any kind of relationship, a few paragraphs about their brief correspondence would have sufficed. In contrast, Malone barely mentions Jefferson's second term Vice President, George Clinton.
Malone concludes with an in-depth and fair review of the final months of Jefferson's Administration. History seems to come down on the side that he more or less sat in the background and let James Madison run the country during his last year in office. Not quite. Jefferson remained quite engaged and active until the election results were known in mid-November 1808. Then, for probably a variety of reasons, he basically became a caretaker, not wishing to do anything that would tie Madison's hands as John Adams had done to him in the closing days of his Presidency. Malone is carefully critical of Jefferson for letting some of his duties slip by the wayside, while also acknowledging that Congress knew Jefferson was a lame duck and that his influence was eroding daily.
While longer than Volume IV, this installment is not as blatantly favorable to Jefferson. Keep in mind that Malone still goes out of his way to praise Jefferson whenever the opportunity arises, and that in general he still makes his admiration for Jefferson clear. But a more balanced portrait has emerged.
Grade: C+
The second section of the book really bogs down over U.S relations with France, Great Britain, and Spain. The participants, and the countries they represented, all had vague, behind-the-scenes ways of expressing themselves. That, coupled with the snail's pace of communication during this period, led to all sides never possessing current information. Jefferson's reactions to actions taken by the European nations were weeks, sometimes months, behind the actual actions themselves. While this in and of itself would not make for a difficult read, Malone really gets into the weeds, going step-by-step through various correspondence between Jefferson, his cabinet, congressmen, his ministers (ambassadors), and the foreign ministers in the U.S. Unless one is doing research on this time period, or perhaps on U.S.-Spanish relations, this level of detail is tedious to sort through and tends to cloud the overall big picture that Jefferson was tasked with keeping in the forefront of his mind.
Fortunately, after this section comes a well-balanced and detailed though not overly consuming look at the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Jefferson was the instigator of this highly successful and useful continental mission. Malone rightly gives Jefferson credit for having the foresight and curiosity to investigate if there is a water passage that leads from the Mississippi River (via the Missouri River) all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Jefferson was very interested in natural science, geography, climate, and agriculture. Without these varied interests, this expedition may not have taken place for many more years. Malone does tread fairly lightly over Jefferson's Indian policy, but that is probably a fairly accurate portrayal of how little importance Indian affairs were to Jefferson, particularly when his main preoccupations were with Great Britain, France, and Spain.
Malone spends an inordinate amount of time (over 150 pages) covering the treason trial of former Vice President Aaron Burr. While this was a huge event – think about Dick Cheney or Joe Biden trying to start a war with Mexico and possibly get some of the Southern states to secede – Malone goes on for far too long, reviewing testimony in detail. Especially since Jefferson was not directly involved in most of it, I think some brevity would have served readers well here. And at the end of covering these proceedings, he adds another chapter about libel laws during Jefferson's time. I will just say that I was glad to move onto the next section, dealing with escalating tensions with Great Britain.
We do not see as much of the personal side of Jefferson as we do in the other volumes. This is not a criticism – Jefferson's second term, like it is for most Presidents who have them, was a difficult time for the man, causing him migraines and lots of stress. In addition, there just was not as much notable family news during this period. In Volume IV, Jefferson's daughter, Polly, died. Thankfully, he suffered no such tragedy in the years covered here. Malone still likes to fill pages though – this time by including a chapter about the total of four letters exchanged between Jefferson and Russian Tsar Alexander I. Considering that the two men never met and certainly did not develop any kind of relationship, a few paragraphs about their brief correspondence would have sufficed. In contrast, Malone barely mentions Jefferson's second term Vice President, George Clinton.
Malone concludes with an in-depth and fair review of the final months of Jefferson's Administration. History seems to come down on the side that he more or less sat in the background and let James Madison run the country during his last year in office. Not quite. Jefferson remained quite engaged and active until the election results were known in mid-November 1808. Then, for probably a variety of reasons, he basically became a caretaker, not wishing to do anything that would tie Madison's hands as John Adams had done to him in the closing days of his Presidency. Malone is carefully critical of Jefferson for letting some of his duties slip by the wayside, while also acknowledging that Congress knew Jefferson was a lame duck and that his influence was eroding daily.
While longer than Volume IV, this installment is not as blatantly favorable to Jefferson. Keep in mind that Malone still goes out of his way to praise Jefferson whenever the opportunity arises, and that in general he still makes his admiration for Jefferson clear. But a more balanced portrait has emerged.
Grade: C+
November 26, 2017
Five books into the Jefferson the President series, historian and author Dumas Malone once again shows why his volumes on the third president are still considered the ultimate source on his presidency.
This work covers the second term of Thomas Jefferson's presidency (March 1805-March 1809), a four year period where he ran into more turbulence than most other portions of his public career. The early portion of the book covers the fascinating (and yet often overlooked) story of Aaron Burr's trial for treason. This trial-which saw the former vice-president accused of machinations undertaken to establish his own breakaway government in the then-western territories-saw Jefferson subsequently trying to stay out of it while expressing his own hope that Burr would pay for his deceitfulness. The trial ended up turning on the definition of "treason" and what it actually looked like in practice, but Jefferson was not entirely innocent of mistakes during the proceedings. His willingness to trust General James Wilkinson, a man secretly in the service of the Spanish government and not the straight shooter Jefferson took him to be when offering his appointments in the new Louisiana Territory, turned out to be almost as deeply flawed as the trust many Americans had misplaced in Aaron Burr (who, while not fully proven to be do so at the time, was involved in his own dishonest behavior). The byzantine nature of Burr's attempts to create his own breakaway republic is probably the reason so few Americans recall it today. This scenario also featured the debate over Jefferson responding to a subpoena--a request which, were he to respond to it and appear in person at trial, would take him away from his public duties as president. His decision to refrain from responding to it set an early precedent.
The book's second section largely centers on the Embargo of 1807, Jefferson and the Republicans' attempt to force England and France to respect U.S. neutrality and quit harassing their ships and seaman. Malone paints this as a well-intentioned, though ultimately ineffective and misguided attempt, at maintaining the country's neutrality and delivering a message without the use of force. (Jefferson's own antipathy toward a deep water navy made involvement in the Napoleonic Wars on the part of the U.S. all but an impossibility anyways). This act, which many argued made Jefferson a hypocrite due to his use of economic coercion, caused a visceral reaction among New Englanders (and Bostonians in particular). The Federalists in this section of the country, in a precursor to the action secession which the South would following through on fifty years later, toyed around with the notion of splitting apart from the rest of the country due to anger at the degree to which their shipping industry was damaged by these commercial restrictions.
President Jefferson viewed the alternative as embargo or war, and this dichotomy allowed him to justify this ban on international trade. Toward the end of his second term, however, Malone implies that even Jefferson began to realize his countrymen would not shoulder this difficulty indefinitely. The British attack on the Americans ship the Chesapeake, an event off the U.S. coast which came close to throwing the two countries into a head-on collision, was detailed well in this book. Jefferson's response to the Chesapeake affair-forceful though short of bringing his country into direct conflict-is granted admirable treatment.
The book closes on an ambiguous note. Jefferson's second term was clearly marred by national dissension over the Embargo Act and the view that Jefferson all but abdicated his duties in favor of letting Congress take the lead during his final year as president. Malone, sometimes too much of a Jeffersonian cheerleader, makes Jefferson's growing disenchantment with the executive role clear. He comes close to indicating the third president might have been better off having only had one term in office.
This work-the next to last entry in the series-is surely as comprehensive of a biography on Jefferson's second presidential term as one could find. It is undoubtedly a solid, detail-filled study of history.
Andrew Canfield Denver, Colorado
This work covers the second term of Thomas Jefferson's presidency (March 1805-March 1809), a four year period where he ran into more turbulence than most other portions of his public career. The early portion of the book covers the fascinating (and yet often overlooked) story of Aaron Burr's trial for treason. This trial-which saw the former vice-president accused of machinations undertaken to establish his own breakaway government in the then-western territories-saw Jefferson subsequently trying to stay out of it while expressing his own hope that Burr would pay for his deceitfulness. The trial ended up turning on the definition of "treason" and what it actually looked like in practice, but Jefferson was not entirely innocent of mistakes during the proceedings. His willingness to trust General James Wilkinson, a man secretly in the service of the Spanish government and not the straight shooter Jefferson took him to be when offering his appointments in the new Louisiana Territory, turned out to be almost as deeply flawed as the trust many Americans had misplaced in Aaron Burr (who, while not fully proven to be do so at the time, was involved in his own dishonest behavior). The byzantine nature of Burr's attempts to create his own breakaway republic is probably the reason so few Americans recall it today. This scenario also featured the debate over Jefferson responding to a subpoena--a request which, were he to respond to it and appear in person at trial, would take him away from his public duties as president. His decision to refrain from responding to it set an early precedent.
The book's second section largely centers on the Embargo of 1807, Jefferson and the Republicans' attempt to force England and France to respect U.S. neutrality and quit harassing their ships and seaman. Malone paints this as a well-intentioned, though ultimately ineffective and misguided attempt, at maintaining the country's neutrality and delivering a message without the use of force. (Jefferson's own antipathy toward a deep water navy made involvement in the Napoleonic Wars on the part of the U.S. all but an impossibility anyways). This act, which many argued made Jefferson a hypocrite due to his use of economic coercion, caused a visceral reaction among New Englanders (and Bostonians in particular). The Federalists in this section of the country, in a precursor to the action secession which the South would following through on fifty years later, toyed around with the notion of splitting apart from the rest of the country due to anger at the degree to which their shipping industry was damaged by these commercial restrictions.
President Jefferson viewed the alternative as embargo or war, and this dichotomy allowed him to justify this ban on international trade. Toward the end of his second term, however, Malone implies that even Jefferson began to realize his countrymen would not shoulder this difficulty indefinitely. The British attack on the Americans ship the Chesapeake, an event off the U.S. coast which came close to throwing the two countries into a head-on collision, was detailed well in this book. Jefferson's response to the Chesapeake affair-forceful though short of bringing his country into direct conflict-is granted admirable treatment.
The book closes on an ambiguous note. Jefferson's second term was clearly marred by national dissension over the Embargo Act and the view that Jefferson all but abdicated his duties in favor of letting Congress take the lead during his final year as president. Malone, sometimes too much of a Jeffersonian cheerleader, makes Jefferson's growing disenchantment with the executive role clear. He comes close to indicating the third president might have been better off having only had one term in office.
This work-the next to last entry in the series-is surely as comprehensive of a biography on Jefferson's second presidential term as one could find. It is undoubtedly a solid, detail-filled study of history.
Andrew Canfield Denver, Colorado
April 11, 2022
Readers of this series are undoubtedly familiar with Malones approach to a biography in that he offers more an apologia and vindication of Jefferson decisions and character.
This volume is refreshing however as Malone attempts to shine light on what Jefferson should have done or where he erred as opposed to unanimous praise.
The reader will be accustomed by now to Malones concise , clear and dry prose which works well for this scope of work. Malones breath of detail however becomes tedious and tiring more often that not however. Try as I might I nearly zoned out more than once during the seemingly endless desert of information on trade embargoes and the Wilkinson affair. These topics are captivating in itself but I can’t help but think that the 100 pages Malone affords to each is unnecessary.
Malone could of cut out the majority of blubber that makes up this scholarly overload if he rid himself of the responsibility he takes up in defending Jefferson against seemingly anyone who critiqued him in his day.
One reviewer said that Malone is more Jeffersonian than Jefferson himself and perhaps gives more head and thought to Jefferson’s shortcomings than the great man himself. This unique caring and passionate outlook is what makes Malone so unique as a biographer.
This volume is refreshing however as Malone attempts to shine light on what Jefferson should have done or where he erred as opposed to unanimous praise.
The reader will be accustomed by now to Malones concise , clear and dry prose which works well for this scope of work. Malones breath of detail however becomes tedious and tiring more often that not however. Try as I might I nearly zoned out more than once during the seemingly endless desert of information on trade embargoes and the Wilkinson affair. These topics are captivating in itself but I can’t help but think that the 100 pages Malone affords to each is unnecessary.
Malone could of cut out the majority of blubber that makes up this scholarly overload if he rid himself of the responsibility he takes up in defending Jefferson against seemingly anyone who critiqued him in his day.
One reviewer said that Malone is more Jeffersonian than Jefferson himself and perhaps gives more head and thought to Jefferson’s shortcomings than the great man himself. This unique caring and passionate outlook is what makes Malone so unique as a biographer.
August 21, 2024
It was a laborious read. Do not mistake me. I love long books, if they are engaging enough. As I have often said when writing a review for this series, I greatly respect the scholarship Malone put in this series. It took him decades to write these six volumes (still have the last one to read). It is clear the scholastic effort he put in writing into a subject he clearly adores. Even if biased, Malone may have been the go to expert on Jefferson. So I greatly respect him and his work.
But Malone spends so much time writing about the Burr trial and Embargo act. Which did not make the most riveting reading. I felt bogged down and just wanted those sections to be over. And they take up so much of this volume, so one can understand the frustration of not wanting to read the majority of the book. Again, as far as detail, one can learn so much from it, I am not taking that away from him. But I think sometimes Malone spends so much time writing the details, he does not effectively tell the story.
I really enjoyed the acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis & Clark parts. The book as a whole could have probably been reduced by at least 100 pages and would have benefited dearly from it. But I do admire the scholarly work Malone put into it. 3.5.
But Malone spends so much time writing about the Burr trial and Embargo act. Which did not make the most riveting reading. I felt bogged down and just wanted those sections to be over. And they take up so much of this volume, so one can understand the frustration of not wanting to read the majority of the book. Again, as far as detail, one can learn so much from it, I am not taking that away from him. But I think sometimes Malone spends so much time writing the details, he does not effectively tell the story.
I really enjoyed the acquisition of the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis & Clark parts. The book as a whole could have probably been reduced by at least 100 pages and would have benefited dearly from it. But I do admire the scholarly work Malone put into it. 3.5.
February 27, 2021
3.5 stars...this 5th of 6 volumes covered TJ’s second Presidential term (1805-1809). IMO this volume’s detail adds less nuance and more tedium than the previous volumes.
Most noteworthy aspects are:
1) the young U.S. nation had no military to respond to affronts on its sovereignty when Great Britain & France seized its ships and impressed its sailors in the midst of their war on each other. An affirmation of the reality that weakness invites aggression. The lesson is critical for us in today’s much more dangerous world.
2) TJ established a precedent still followed of the independence of the 3 branches of government as intended in the Constitution. He refused a John Marshall subpoena to appear before the court in Burr’s treason trial or submit all documents requested.
3) TJ is known for his philosophical principles yet when President he found it necessary to bend to practical realities. This is the nature of our system even today. The conflict between the Constitution and political party goals is constant today and I’m afraid the Constitution is losing.
Most noteworthy aspects are:
1) the young U.S. nation had no military to respond to affronts on its sovereignty when Great Britain & France seized its ships and impressed its sailors in the midst of their war on each other. An affirmation of the reality that weakness invites aggression. The lesson is critical for us in today’s much more dangerous world.
2) TJ established a precedent still followed of the independence of the 3 branches of government as intended in the Constitution. He refused a John Marshall subpoena to appear before the court in Burr’s treason trial or submit all documents requested.
3) TJ is known for his philosophical principles yet when President he found it necessary to bend to practical realities. This is the nature of our system even today. The conflict between the Constitution and political party goals is constant today and I’m afraid the Constitution is losing.
July 11, 2023
Volume V of Malone's Pulitzer Prize winning six-volume biography, a fascinating and engaging look at the last four years of Jefferson's presidency. Although thorough as a survey, even at nearly 700 pages long this book is best appreciated as a detailed introduction to those four years, not an exhaustive study of them.
August 20, 2024
Another well-researched and well-organized volume that works as both a personal biography of Jefferson and an analysis of the major events of the country at the time. Malone is still on Jefferson's side in every event, but this does come across as a more balanced look at the man than any of the previous volumes.
January 28, 2025
5th of the mammoth 6-volume Thomas Jefferson biography series is the longest and one of the most difficult due to the number of court room scenes with legalese, especially regarding that of Aaron Burr. It also has the Lewis and Clark expedition and the seldom mentioned Barbary pirates war. Excellent and comprehensive!
February 27, 2022
The longest book of the lot, and a very morose entry given there is much more bad than good in Jefferson's second term. As with the previous book, the context overwhelms the narrative, making it a difficult work to sift through.
August 11, 2022
Volume 5 of 6 Malone's Jefferson and His Time biography. Extremely detailed, dense, dry, and at times tedious. Like the previous volumes it tends to be worshipful. That said, the scholarship is excellent.
November 24, 2022
This was a fascinating book with detailed accounts of the Burr Conspiracy, the Chesapeake-Leopard affair, the Embargo Acts, and Jefferson's second term. This was the most evenhanded treatment of Jefferson yet in Malone's series, though he still draws all inferences in Jefferson's favor.
July 19, 2023
The author does a lot of speculation, and always tries to put the best spin on Jefferson's conduct and character, but I'm getting a real sense of the time and the actors of an era I didn't know much about.
June 16, 2018
If you want to know all there is about Jefferson this is the series. This book has a lot of detail and helps to explain a lot about early 19th century politics. However it’s very dry at times.
March 16, 2019
Best book of the series!
November 9, 2015
Kudos to Audible.com for supplying a 1990s Blackstone audio version of this exquisitely detailed biography, with Anna Fields reading. Her voice has a wonderful, even tempo and just the right amount of constructed pomp for reading from the many diaries, letters, speeches and other political records left behind by the Founding Fathers and their colleagues and enemies around the world.
Dipping into Jefferson's second term means getting a crash course in the earliest patterns of American development. I was most surprised to learn of the Burr conspiracy, even if I found Malone's extended coverage of executive and judiciary tension in the wake of the conspiracy to be more than was necessary. Burr's megalomaniac scheme to take over the Western territories and double-cross Spain to invade Mexico and ultimately take Washington leaves us with a breathless sense of how wide open were the possibilities for the USA between 1800 and 1809. The southern border, in the area that was to become Florida, was completely unsettled -- it's also interesting to learn that Jefferson may well have been more aggressive in pushing the Spanish border back towards Texas, claiming all of Florida and the deep South, if he had only known how precarious Spain's position truly was.
We who are not experts on the Napoleonic wars see Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and others doing their best to deal with the European turmoil and especially the low-key desperation of the British empire in the face of the threat of Napoleon. It changed everything, the very real British effort to befriend the new addition to the system of interstate commerce being ultimately shattered by policies like that of impressment, which they might have backed down on if they hadn't felt it imperative to be masters of the sea.
The big question of Jefferson's second term centers on the Embargo Act, a grand scheme to remain militarily neutral while at the same time employing economic coercion as a new kind of weapon. All exports were forbidden, a policy gauged to hurt Britain, though it had the effect of dampening revenues in America as well, and calling into question the authority of the President over international matters, even when such matters interfere into such policies as were normally intended to be left to the state and local governments. Public complaints against the Embargo Act were significant, though perhaps, looking back, the really remarkable thing was that the electorate remained as united as it did behind the President, and against war with Britain.
There are many other wonderful portraits here, of Jefferson as a proud grandfather (letters to his oldest grandchildren evince a marvelous educator's mind). There is also his love of horticulture and of practical science, which probably helped shape the foundations of liberal arts education in America. Jefferson was of course full of enthusiasm for the return of the Lewis and Clarke expedition, and we witness here his genuine interest in learning about the American West and its indigenous peoples. It is not exactly clear whether he knew or anticipated the general destruction of these peoples -- people of those times seem to have thought that American development of the West would take much longer than it ultimately did -- but to Jefferson's credit he played host to many peaceful tribal leaders, and attempted to treat them with respect as such, i. e. leaders of their communities, even if he made it clear that his community was a larger form of community than theirs was.
All of these and more bear further reading, especially in the light of modern world-systems theory. Wallerstein and Arrighi see the early United States as the beginning a new cycle of quasi-monopoly development leading to hegemony over economic worlds -- US hegemony. This is the beginning of a chapter in world economic development that is just lately shifting once again, behooving us more than ever to read history.
I also would love to know more about the United States Congress, which seems both to have been an unruly and frustrating institution from the very beginning, a stage for obstructionist and parochial voices, but also more often able, in those times, to come together for the common good. The story of Congressman John Randolph (1773-1833), who broke with Jefferson and became an early example of the contrarian voices we can recognize in the modern Republican party, bears further investigation.
Also of great fascination is Albert Gallatin, Jefferson's Secretary of the Treasury and by all accounts the smartest mind and most efficient manager of the administration. (Gallatin was the biggest critic of the Embargo Act, but when Jefferson had his way in passing it, Gallatin took responsibility for enforcing it. Such are the lives of true leaders.) Interestingly, a glance at the work of historian Henry Adams shows that he wrote the first two biographies of both Randolph and Gallatin.
Dipping into Jefferson's second term means getting a crash course in the earliest patterns of American development. I was most surprised to learn of the Burr conspiracy, even if I found Malone's extended coverage of executive and judiciary tension in the wake of the conspiracy to be more than was necessary. Burr's megalomaniac scheme to take over the Western territories and double-cross Spain to invade Mexico and ultimately take Washington leaves us with a breathless sense of how wide open were the possibilities for the USA between 1800 and 1809. The southern border, in the area that was to become Florida, was completely unsettled -- it's also interesting to learn that Jefferson may well have been more aggressive in pushing the Spanish border back towards Texas, claiming all of Florida and the deep South, if he had only known how precarious Spain's position truly was.
We who are not experts on the Napoleonic wars see Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and others doing their best to deal with the European turmoil and especially the low-key desperation of the British empire in the face of the threat of Napoleon. It changed everything, the very real British effort to befriend the new addition to the system of interstate commerce being ultimately shattered by policies like that of impressment, which they might have backed down on if they hadn't felt it imperative to be masters of the sea.
The big question of Jefferson's second term centers on the Embargo Act, a grand scheme to remain militarily neutral while at the same time employing economic coercion as a new kind of weapon. All exports were forbidden, a policy gauged to hurt Britain, though it had the effect of dampening revenues in America as well, and calling into question the authority of the President over international matters, even when such matters interfere into such policies as were normally intended to be left to the state and local governments. Public complaints against the Embargo Act were significant, though perhaps, looking back, the really remarkable thing was that the electorate remained as united as it did behind the President, and against war with Britain.
There are many other wonderful portraits here, of Jefferson as a proud grandfather (letters to his oldest grandchildren evince a marvelous educator's mind). There is also his love of horticulture and of practical science, which probably helped shape the foundations of liberal arts education in America. Jefferson was of course full of enthusiasm for the return of the Lewis and Clarke expedition, and we witness here his genuine interest in learning about the American West and its indigenous peoples. It is not exactly clear whether he knew or anticipated the general destruction of these peoples -- people of those times seem to have thought that American development of the West would take much longer than it ultimately did -- but to Jefferson's credit he played host to many peaceful tribal leaders, and attempted to treat them with respect as such, i. e. leaders of their communities, even if he made it clear that his community was a larger form of community than theirs was.
All of these and more bear further reading, especially in the light of modern world-systems theory. Wallerstein and Arrighi see the early United States as the beginning a new cycle of quasi-monopoly development leading to hegemony over economic worlds -- US hegemony. This is the beginning of a chapter in world economic development that is just lately shifting once again, behooving us more than ever to read history.
I also would love to know more about the United States Congress, which seems both to have been an unruly and frustrating institution from the very beginning, a stage for obstructionist and parochial voices, but also more often able, in those times, to come together for the common good. The story of Congressman John Randolph (1773-1833), who broke with Jefferson and became an early example of the contrarian voices we can recognize in the modern Republican party, bears further investigation.
Also of great fascination is Albert Gallatin, Jefferson's Secretary of the Treasury and by all accounts the smartest mind and most efficient manager of the administration. (Gallatin was the biggest critic of the Embargo Act, but when Jefferson had his way in passing it, Gallatin took responsibility for enforcing it. Such are the lives of true leaders.) Interestingly, a glance at the work of historian Henry Adams shows that he wrote the first two biographies of both Randolph and Gallatin.
July 1, 2014
This review applies to the entire series, Jefferson and His Times.
Anyone who wants to understand a fraction of Jefferson, needs to start here. This work is the source that most academicians use. It is thorough and depends upon Jefferson's correspondence, editorials, reports, day books, conversations and memories. What more could you ever need? Heavily footnoted, this series puts to shame all other works on this great American. Some popular authors have written of Jefferson suggesting what he may have thought, or he may have done (Brody, anyone?) Malone is authoritative and needs not speculate. Read the series and then ask yourself, "Is it more likely than not that Jefferson fathered Sally Hemming's children?" I can only conclude that he did not. I remember when Clinton was president and, when incidents arose which questioned his fidelity, suddenly this old rumor became current. Someone interviewed the descendants of Hemmings and guess what? They all believed they were related to him! Isn't that peculiar? NO! What does a reasonable man expect them to say? Is it not more impressive to be part of a family that was sired by one of the greatest Americans or his philandering nephew, Peter Carr. All resurrected in the hope of distracting the American public from a current political scandal.
Anyone who wants to understand a fraction of Jefferson, needs to start here. This work is the source that most academicians use. It is thorough and depends upon Jefferson's correspondence, editorials, reports, day books, conversations and memories. What more could you ever need? Heavily footnoted, this series puts to shame all other works on this great American. Some popular authors have written of Jefferson suggesting what he may have thought, or he may have done (Brody, anyone?) Malone is authoritative and needs not speculate. Read the series and then ask yourself, "Is it more likely than not that Jefferson fathered Sally Hemming's children?" I can only conclude that he did not. I remember when Clinton was president and, when incidents arose which questioned his fidelity, suddenly this old rumor became current. Someone interviewed the descendants of Hemmings and guess what? They all believed they were related to him! Isn't that peculiar? NO! What does a reasonable man expect them to say? Is it not more impressive to be part of a family that was sired by one of the greatest Americans or his philandering nephew, Peter Carr. All resurrected in the hope of distracting the American public from a current political scandal.
May 7, 2011
This book covers a significant period in our early history including the Barbary Wars, the Embargo and the treason trial of Aaron Burr. Like Theodore Roosevelt and George W. Bush a century and two later, Jefferson became entangled in Middle Eastern intrigues when he he challenged the local pirates who kidnapped American sailors. The Embargo drew American shipping from the seas to avoid involvement in the competing blockades of the Napoleonic Wars. Aaron Burr, who had clashed with Jefferson since the 1800 election, was prosecuted at Jefferson's insistence, over allegations of involvement in a conspiracy to separate western states and territories from the U.S.
As in any six volume biography, this one tends to get bogged down in details and at times is a bit of a slow read. I would rate this as good for an intense study of Jefferson, but weak as an enjoyable read.
As in any six volume biography, this one tends to get bogged down in details and at times is a bit of a slow read. I would rate this as good for an intense study of Jefferson, but weak as an enjoyable read.
December 30, 2016
Brilliantly written biography in a series of biographies by Dumas on Thomas Jefferson. HIGHLY recommend for anyone interested in the political history of our country. I'm on a quest to truly understand the details about how the United States was founded, why, and the personalities of the major players in that task. Will be posting about each of the biographies in this series, but cannot state emphatically enough how much I enjoy reading these over and over.
Each book sequentially covers a part of Jefferson's robust life. He was, as many know, not just an enormous influence in American history, but a prolific author and highly educated man. He was also very clinical about his beliefs in life and made no secret of his suspicion of religious ideals.
This would be an incredible summer reading series for someone in high school or college.
Each book sequentially covers a part of Jefferson's robust life. He was, as many know, not just an enormous influence in American history, but a prolific author and highly educated man. He was also very clinical about his beliefs in life and made no secret of his suspicion of religious ideals.
This would be an incredible summer reading series for someone in high school or college.
June 10, 2012
Even better than the first term, although this portion of his presidency was less successful. This account leads us into the War of 1812 and Madison's coming of age. Poor Madison. Although I have yet to read his biography, I fear he hit his stride with the writing of the Constitution. Here we learn of Jefferson's ideas on expansion, i.e. Lewis and Clark, and again become a bit more sympathetic with the man who said, "Colonel Hamilton was killed."
Hamilton was a General when he died.
Hamilton was a General when he died.
August 14, 2016
Malone's paean to Jefferson continues. His refusal to believe that Jefferson might have done ANYTHING devious or politically expedient borders on the manic, but the series continues to be a must-read and invaluable resource for lovers of early American history.
December 22, 2013
Very detailed, and a dry writing style but still informative.
September 12, 2012
Extremely in-depth biography, but difficult to read. Probably best-suited for an academic study of Jefferson's life.
February 9, 2008
white guy #3 vol 5
April 28, 2017
The 5th volume of Malone's work on Jefferson was exactly what I expected it to be: A narrative on Jefferson's second term as President of the United States (as the title already indicates). Malone portraied several of Jefferson's political positions, not forgetting his struggle on whether to take the office for a thrid term.
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