Thomas Jefferson: Public Servant

During a July 2010 tour of Monticello, a guide told us Thomas Jefferson was such an introvert, one year he mailed in his state of the union address so that he wouldn’t have to make the speech. Surprising, considering the length of Jefferson’s public service (1770-1809) and constant stream of uninvited visitors to his home.  Another tour guide also told us that Jefferson’s guests had to wait in Monticello’s foyer until he had finished his daily readings and correspondence. Perhaps this was simply his discipline, but it may also have reflected his introverted nature.

Ninety miles south of Monticello, his main residence, Jefferson built a personal retreat home and ran a working plantation on inherited land called Poplar Forest. Only John Adams and a small number of friends even knew about Poplar Forest; even fewer were ever invited there, though family was always welcome. In those days, 90 miles was a two-and-a-half- to three-day journey. As one of his granddaughters noted, Jefferson found at Poplar Forest time to “carry on his favorite pursuits—to think, to study, to read.”

In Poplar Forest and Thomas Jefferson, S. Allen Chambers, Jr. underscores this with several direct quotations. Chambers says, “Throughout these (1774-1778) and later years of public service, Jefferson regularly expressed the wish to be at home, among his family and friends. Less than a month after he became governor of Virginia, on June 1, 1779, he wrote, ‘The hour of private retirement to which I am drawn by my nature with a propensity almost irresistible, will be the most welcome of my life.’”

I have long admired Thomas Jefferson for his personal and professional accomplishments; his appreciation of French culture; his passion for bringing life to and from land; his moral compass; his contribution as a Founding Father. Just the more notable tumultuous events of the time—the Revolutionary War, federalist-antifederalist (predecessors to modern-day Democratic-Republican) arguments, attacks on American trade ships by France and Britain, America’s war against pirates of the Barbary States, Aaron Burr’s treason, abolition of the slave trade—would challenge any politician. Given Jefferson’s contemplative nature, I have a new appreciation for his public service.

Vacation: Monticello

The centerpiece of this vacation was to be Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Indeed, Tuesday we had a behind-the-scenes tour, a house tour, and plantation community tour. Just a few observations of my own and three tour guides:

Thomas Jefferson was more introvert than extrovert. Surprising because of his public life, renowned hospitality, and ambitious travels and undertakings. One of our guides said, however, that T.J. was uncomfortable in crowds; he preferred small groups of close friends. In fact, at least one year when he was president, he mailed in his state of the union address so that he could avoid making the speech. Another of our guides said that his quiet correspondence came first each day. Visitors would just have to wait in the entry hall until T.J. finished writing letters.

One guide said that T.J. is thought of as an inventor, but he was actually more of an adaptor. I am not sure which clever items in Monticello were inventions and which were adaptations. One item was a dumb waiter for wine bottles in the sides of a fireplace. Another was a clock with hour, minute, and second hands, connected to a ball-and-chain contraption that told the day of the week. Another was a double-pen apparatus that automatically copied anything he wrote with one of the pens. He favored Palladio architectural concepts he observed in Europe and incorporated them into his design of Monticello.

The simplicity of the place struck me. Nothing was fancy. Fine, yes. Fancy, no.

T.J. was conflicted on the subject of slavery. He owned slaves, but he treated them with respect and kindness. If one was injured, he immediately sent into Charlottesville for the finest doctors. He informally educated some slaves. Although laws at the time were harsh for runaway slaves, T.J. is known to have protected one man who ran away to be with his "wife" at the White House; not only did he send him back to Monticello, he promoted him to supervisory positions among the slaves there. He believed in this man and understood why he had run away. Apparently, T.J. proposed a law that would educate slaves, free them, and send them to Liberia. He believed they wouldn't be really free unless they were educated and away from the inevitable bitterness resulting from the experience of slavery. Because other slave-owning legislators adamantly clung to the comforts their slaves provided, T.J.'s proposal was not enacted into law. Several years later, a law was passed forbidding owners to educate slaves. Ugh.

In Jefferson's "cabinet" (his home office), he had a bed and sitting room. The sitting room contained the fireplace to heat both rooms, so his cabinet would have been fairly chilly in winter. And he'd put huge windows in his personal quarters. Our guide pointed out that in designing this, he had made a conscious choice of light over heat.

I wish we had a choice of light over heat! :-) Virginia in July, there's just no escaping this heat. Scalding sweat stings your eyes. Steam clouds your vision. Nothing is dry enough to wipe the steam off your glasses. No matter ~ what good are glasses when your eyes are swollen shut? You wonder if bugs have gotten inside your clothes to tickle you, but no, just perspiration rivulets trickling down your sides. When we get into air conditioning, we laugh about it, but out in nature's sauna, man, we're in survival mode. Just pick up one foot, Jane. Put it down. Now pick up the other foot ...