Jefferson, Thomas

1. A political leader of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries; one of the Founding Fathers ; the leader of the Democratic-Republican party. Jefferson was principal author of the Declaration of Independence and served as president from 1801 to 1809, between John Adams and James Madison . He arranged for the Louisiana Purchase , founded the University of Virginia, and built the mansion Monticello . Jefferson is famed as a champion of political and religious freedom, but he was also a slaveholder. ( See Jeffersonian democracy ; Sally Hemings .)

Example Sentences

How did that idea confront the claims of founders like Thomas Jefferson that they were getting rid of feudalism entirely?

From Salon

In his view, the Democratic Party’s agenda and its “quiet revolution” could be stopped only by a “radical constitutionalist,” someone in the mold of Thomas Jefferson or James Madison.

From Salon

That sounds like a good thing to Trump, of course, but the backlash two centuries ago helped Thomas Jefferson defeat President John Adams in 1800.

From Los Angeles Times

A tie hasn’t happened since 1800, when Thomas Jefferson tied with Aaron Burr.

From Los Angeles Times

However, many other delegates were adamant that there be an indirect way of electing the president to provide a buffer against what Thomas Jefferson called “well-meaning, but uninformed people.”

From Salon