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A review by sarabearian
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham
5.0
I have long been an advocate of David McCullough’s biographies. His loss in 2022 left a huge hole in the reporting of American history. Gladly, a friend gave me Meacham’s Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson. Lincoln’s biography was simply fantastic; Thomas Jefferson’s eclipsed it.
I thought I had a good handle on Jefferson’s life with a couple of biographies under my belt and what could be gleaned from a few American history books.
It was amazing to ride along with Jefferson’s first term and view how his conduct changed the nature of the presidency while affirming Jefferson’s faith in our democratic republic and Constitution. Even more intriguing is Meacham’s reporting of the conflict between the Monocrats (monarchists coupled with autocrats) that aligned with John Adams and the democratic republicans aligning with Jefferson. The political incursion was more than political dialog and opinions voiced in the press. Plans had been made to circumvent the Constitution to place a Monocrat in office instead of Jefferson.
The conflicts between the factions continued through Jefferson’s eight-year tenure. As the election of James Madison approached, also a democratic republican and father of the Constitution, two different groups hoped to splinter America: a nest of insurgents in the Northeast who hoped to secede from the Union and a group led by Aaron Burr hoping to carve out territory in the West for a new nation headed by Burr. Both failed.
As amazing as these revelations were, the book was filled with tantalizing reporting about Jefferson that will make any lover of the early nation gawk and grin. The book also portrays a man great in stature, much taller than my light dusting of history painted him.
This is not just recommended. Thomas Jefferson is now my favorite biography.
Pick it up. You will be delightfully stunned. -Tom L.
I thought I had a good handle on Jefferson’s life with a couple of biographies under my belt and what could be gleaned from a few American history books.
It was amazing to ride along with Jefferson’s first term and view how his conduct changed the nature of the presidency while affirming Jefferson’s faith in our democratic republic and Constitution. Even more intriguing is Meacham’s reporting of the conflict between the Monocrats (monarchists coupled with autocrats) that aligned with John Adams and the democratic republicans aligning with Jefferson. The political incursion was more than political dialog and opinions voiced in the press. Plans had been made to circumvent the Constitution to place a Monocrat in office instead of Jefferson.
The conflicts between the factions continued through Jefferson’s eight-year tenure. As the election of James Madison approached, also a democratic republican and father of the Constitution, two different groups hoped to splinter America: a nest of insurgents in the Northeast who hoped to secede from the Union and a group led by Aaron Burr hoping to carve out territory in the West for a new nation headed by Burr. Both failed.
As amazing as these revelations were, the book was filled with tantalizing reporting about Jefferson that will make any lover of the early nation gawk and grin. The book also portrays a man great in stature, much taller than my light dusting of history painted him.
This is not just recommended. Thomas Jefferson is now my favorite biography.
Pick it up. You will be delightfully stunned. -Tom L.