August 17, 2012 (Friday)
George Washington was the first president of the United States, followed by John Adams, then Thomas Jefferson. By what possible stretch of the imagination can one possibly believe that it was a concidence that these giants of human history appeared on the scene just when they were needed for the birth of a nation that would one day become the world’s beacon of freedom for all people?
Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence. John Adams and Benjamin Franklin were also appointed by the Continental Congress for the purpose, but they left the writing to Jefferson, who felt their influence very strongly as he composed the magnificent document. Jefferson and Adams became friends, then adversaries, and towards the end of their lives, friends once again. They both died on the same day, July 4, 1826, the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Again, it is difficult not to see a divine hand in the unfolding of those events.
Adams was an outspoken activist, but Jefferson was a quiet soft-spoken craftsman of dynamic, world-changing words. Adams communicated strongly via the spoken word; Jefferson proved the adage, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Adams was the ultimate political force; Jefferson shied away from politics. The monument on his grave names three great achievements and being president is not one of them. It is not mentioned on the marker.
What were the three things for which Jefferson desired to be remembered? If you visit the monument, you will see an inscription explicitly ordered by Jefferson himself:
Here was buried
Thomas Jefferson
Author of the Declaration of American Independence
of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom
Father of the University of Virginia
He was a complex man, whose life is controversial in some ways, and people debate his life and works, but he was a truly great man.
I would advise everyone to study his life carefully and to verify facts and quotations before making statements about him and quoting him. The Internet has provided a forum for lies and half-truths as well as real historical facts. As Ronald Reagan used to say, “Trust and verify.”