Thomas Jefferson

by Henry Childs Merwin

Reproduction of the Thomas Jefferson by Henry Childs Merwin

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction

68 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1901

Reviews

[Patsy]

This was an interesting book if you are looking for political information. Even after Jefferson was out the office and retired he would get loads of mail and he tried to answer all of it. When he died there were 26,000 letters that was never opened or answered. All of his married life he had friends. relatives, and neighbors would visit for weeks and months at a time. They would sleep all over the house. Jefferson was a very self disciplined person, even if he had a house full of guests he would get up at day break and write letters till noon, eat and then exercise for two hours riding his horse alone. He was 62 when he became president and he was all business and away from home days and weeks at a time. This was interesting but 3/4 of the book was politics. Even after he retired Madison and Monroe was presidents they would come to him for advice.

[Schuyler Lystad]

In the first tenth of the book, his treatment of various subjects of Jefferson's life includes inserting opinions and discounting other evidence in order to paint a rosy picture. His treatment of the view of slavery in this early portion is much more expansive than it should be, for instance, while taking one example to illustrate a wider viewpoint that lacks nuance. Other biographies are much more informative.

[Kari]

This is a nice little history of Thomas Jefferson's life. It touches on all of the highlights, but it also includes some little known vignettes like when he was almost captured by Tarleton when he was Governor of Virginia. Jefferson was quite fascinating and way ahead of his time when it came to his views on liberty and religious freedom in particular.

[Linda]

Brief overview of the life of Jefferson, written in 1901, showing his good traits and his flaws, but not mentioning much about his relations with slaves, except to say that he was a good master and his slaves liked him.

[Charles Beierle]

Jefferson the Man

Very insightful analysis of the man and his place in history. Could have expanded on his political career and his roles in the constitutional convention.