Thomas Jefferson (Part 2)

TL;DR

Thomas Jefferson’s political career recovered from a disastrous governorship and personal grief through service as minister to France, Secretary of State, Vice President, and President. His presidency doubled the U.S. via the Louisiana Purchase and commissioned the Lewis and Clark expedition, but his second term was crippled by the Embargo Act and a weak foreign policy that led to the War of 1812.

Key insights

• Jefferson saw his role as minister to France as a comeback; he had no major diplomatic accomplishments there (the key loan and Dutch trade deal were negotiated by John Adams) and misjudged the French
• As Secretary of State, Jefferson was largely ineffective in office but actively sabotaged the Washington administration by founding Democratic‑Republican societies, funding opposition newspapers, and
• The “dinner table bargain” of 1790 (allowing Hamilton’s debt assumption in exchange for locating the capital on the Potomac) was a political masterstroke by Hamilton; Jefferson later regretted it as t