Thomas Jefferson’s Principles of Liberty at Core of What Americanness Means

Few historical figures have experienced the whiplash of public opinion more than Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson, who was born 283 years ago today, was both despised and adored during his own lifetime, and his popularity has ever since waned and waxed with shifting political attitudes. The renowned Jefferson scholar Merrill Peterson even devoted an entire book (The Jefferson Image in the American Mind) not to Jefferson’s life, but to the various changes in public perceptions of his legacy. It’s no surprise, then, that as we approach America’s 250th birthday — a day uniquely tied to the man primarily responsible for the Declaration of Independence — that legacy is again something of a battlefield.

As recently as 1993, President William Jefferson Clinton traded on his middle name to such a degree that he began his inauguration day by touring Monticello. But since then, the Virginian’s fortunes have fallen to the point that historian Pauline Maier opened her book American Scripture with the assertion that Jefferson is “the most overrated person in American history.”

About the Author

Timothy Sandefur

Timothy Sandefur is the vice president for legal affairs at the Goldwater Institute and the author of Proclaiming Liberty: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and the Declaration of Independence.

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Few historical figures have experienced the whiplash of public opinion more than Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson, who was born 283 years ago today, was both despised and adored during his own lifetime, and his popularity has ever since waned and waxed with shifting political attitudes. The renowned Jefferson scholar Merrill Peterson even devoted an entire book (The Jefferson Image in the American Mind) not to Jefferson’s life, but to the various changes in public perceptions of his legacy. It’s no surprise, then, that as we approach America’s 250th birthday — a day uniquely tied to the man primarily responsible for the Declaration of Independence — that legacy is again something of a battlefield.

As recently as 1993, President William Jefferson Clinton traded on his middle name to such a degree that he began his inauguration day by touring Monticello. But since then, the Virginian’s fortunes have fallen to the point that historian Pauline Maier opened her book American Scripture with the assertion that Jefferson is “the most overrated person in American history.”