Thomas Jefferson: The First Populist President
Thomas Jefferson a populist before that term was really in use. Much in his history suggests an approach of championing the rights of the individual over the rights of the elite. For example, in 1776 when he wrote the Declaration of Independence, criticism of King George III for how the king was treating the colonists was something very much on Jefferson's mind. When the declaration he wrote was introduced to the Continental Congress on Friday, June 28, and congress began debate over its contents on Monday, July 1, Jefferson was unhappy that almost a quarter of the text was deleted, including a passage critical of King George III and of the slave trade. Privately, Jefferson resented the changes, but he did not speak publicly about them. On July 4, 1776, the Congress ratified the Declaration, and delegates signed it on August 2, knowing that in doing so, they were committing an act of treason against the Crown. Jefferson's preamble contained the famous phrase "all men are created equal", perhaps his first formal pronouncement that he was for the common man and not for any elite.
Jefferson was in France from 1784 to 1789. As the French Revolution began, Jefferson allowed his Paris residence, the Hôtel de Langeac, to be used for meetings by French republicans. He was in Paris during the storming of the Bastille and was consulted about the drafting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Jefferson left Paris in September 1789. He planned to return some day, but was unable to do so when President George Washington appointed him as the country's first Secretary of State. Jefferson remained a firm supporter of the French Revolution, though he did not support some of the Revolution's more violent aspects.
While a member of Washington's Cabinet, Jefferson consistently opposed the idea of a powerful central government. He opposed a national debt, preferring that each state retire its own portion of that debt, in contrast to Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who wanted to see a consolidation of the states' debts by the federal government. Hamilton also had wanted to establish the national credit and create a national bank. Jefferson strenuously opposed this.
In the Spring of 1791, Jefferson and Congressman James Madison took a vacation to Vermont, ostensibly on a botanical mission, but really for the purposes of political scheming. In May 1792, Jefferson he wrote to Washington, urging him to run for re-election that year as a unifying influence. He urged Washington to rally the citizenry to a party that would defend democracy against the corrupting influence of banks and monied interests. Many historians consider this letter as the earliest formal expression of Democratic-Republican Party principles. Jefferson, Madison, and other Democratic-Republican organizers favored states' rights and local control and opposed federal concentration of power, whereas Hamilton sought more power for the federal government.
Jefferson supported France against Britain when the two nations fought in 1793. His arguments in the Cabinet lost credibility when French Revolutionary envoy Edmond-Charles Genêt's took actions to try to undermine Washington's policy of neutrality the the war between France and England. Washington demanded that Genest be recalled by France, but later ended up granting Genest asylum after it appeared that a guillotine would be his fate when he returned to Paris.
After the Washington administration negotiated the Jay Treaty with Great Britain (1794), Jefferson saw a cause around which to rally his party and the populace. He organized a national opposition to the treaty. The Treaty passed, but it expired in 1805 during Jefferson's administration and was not renewed.
Jefferson ran for President against John Adams in 1796, finishing second in the electoral vote, which, at that time meant that he would become Vice-President. He spent four years undermining the Federalists, who rebuilt the military, levied new taxes, and enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts. Jefferson believed that these laws were intended to suppress Democratic-Republicans, rather than prosecute enemy aliens, and considered them unconstitutional. To rally opposition, he and James Madison anonymously wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, declaring that the federal government had no right to exercise powers not specifically delegated to it by the states. In these resolutions, Jefferson advocated nullification, allowing states to invalidate federal laws altogether. The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions were later used by Confederate states to justify their secession during the Civil War.
Jefferson and Madison moved to Philadelphia and founded the National Gazette in 1791, and hired poet and writer Phillip Freneau as its editor. The National Gazette criticized the policies promoted by Alexander Hamilton through anonymous essays which were actually written by Madison. In the election of 1800 Jefferson once more ran against Federalist John Adams. Adams' campaign was weakened by unpopular taxes and vicious Federalist infighting over his actions in the Quasi-War. Republicans pointed to the Alien and Sedition Acts and accused the Federalists of being secret monarchists. The election is considered to be one of the most acrimonious in American history. Republicans ultimately won more electoral college votes, but Jefferson and his vice presidential candidate Aaron Burr unexpectedly received an equal total. Due to the tie, the election was decided by the Federalist-dominated House of Representatives. Hamilton actually lobbied Federalist representatives on Jefferson's behalf, believing him a lesser political evil than Burr. On February 17, 1801, after thirty-six ballots, the House elected Jefferson president and Burr vice president.
Jefferson was re-elected President in 1804, serving only two terms in deference to the example set by George Washington. He is most likely the first populist American President, and in fact a 1983 book containing many of Jefferson's writings, edited by Martin Larson asserts as much by its title, Jefferson: Magnificent Populist. Jeffersonians were deeply committed to Republicanism in the United States, which was defined as meaning opposition to aristocracy of any form, opposition to corruption, insistence on virtue, with a priority for the interests of farmers, planters, and "plain folk". They were antagonistic to the aristocratic elitism of merchants, bankers and manufacturers, they distrusted factory workers, and supporters of the British system of government. Jeffersonian democracy persisted as an element of the Democratic Party into the early 20th century, as evidenced by the rise of Jacksonian democracy and the three presidential candidacies of William Jennings Bryan. Its themes continue to echo in the 21st century.
Jefferson was in France from 1784 to 1789. As the French Revolution began, Jefferson allowed his Paris residence, the Hôtel de Langeac, to be used for meetings by French republicans. He was in Paris during the storming of the Bastille and was consulted about the drafting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. Jefferson left Paris in September 1789. He planned to return some day, but was unable to do so when President George Washington appointed him as the country's first Secretary of State. Jefferson remained a firm supporter of the French Revolution, though he did not support some of the Revolution's more violent aspects.
While a member of Washington's Cabinet, Jefferson consistently opposed the idea of a powerful central government. He opposed a national debt, preferring that each state retire its own portion of that debt, in contrast to Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who wanted to see a consolidation of the states' debts by the federal government. Hamilton also had wanted to establish the national credit and create a national bank. Jefferson strenuously opposed this.
In the Spring of 1791, Jefferson and Congressman James Madison took a vacation to Vermont, ostensibly on a botanical mission, but really for the purposes of political scheming. In May 1792, Jefferson he wrote to Washington, urging him to run for re-election that year as a unifying influence. He urged Washington to rally the citizenry to a party that would defend democracy against the corrupting influence of banks and monied interests. Many historians consider this letter as the earliest formal expression of Democratic-Republican Party principles. Jefferson, Madison, and other Democratic-Republican organizers favored states' rights and local control and opposed federal concentration of power, whereas Hamilton sought more power for the federal government.
Jefferson supported France against Britain when the two nations fought in 1793. His arguments in the Cabinet lost credibility when French Revolutionary envoy Edmond-Charles Genêt's took actions to try to undermine Washington's policy of neutrality the the war between France and England. Washington demanded that Genest be recalled by France, but later ended up granting Genest asylum after it appeared that a guillotine would be his fate when he returned to Paris.
After the Washington administration negotiated the Jay Treaty with Great Britain (1794), Jefferson saw a cause around which to rally his party and the populace. He organized a national opposition to the treaty. The Treaty passed, but it expired in 1805 during Jefferson's administration and was not renewed.
Jefferson ran for President against John Adams in 1796, finishing second in the electoral vote, which, at that time meant that he would become Vice-President. He spent four years undermining the Federalists, who rebuilt the military, levied new taxes, and enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts. Jefferson believed that these laws were intended to suppress Democratic-Republicans, rather than prosecute enemy aliens, and considered them unconstitutional. To rally opposition, he and James Madison anonymously wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, declaring that the federal government had no right to exercise powers not specifically delegated to it by the states. In these resolutions, Jefferson advocated nullification, allowing states to invalidate federal laws altogether. The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions were later used by Confederate states to justify their secession during the Civil War.
Jefferson and Madison moved to Philadelphia and founded the National Gazette in 1791, and hired poet and writer Phillip Freneau as its editor. The National Gazette criticized the policies promoted by Alexander Hamilton through anonymous essays which were actually written by Madison. In the election of 1800 Jefferson once more ran against Federalist John Adams. Adams' campaign was weakened by unpopular taxes and vicious Federalist infighting over his actions in the Quasi-War. Republicans pointed to the Alien and Sedition Acts and accused the Federalists of being secret monarchists. The election is considered to be one of the most acrimonious in American history. Republicans ultimately won more electoral college votes, but Jefferson and his vice presidential candidate Aaron Burr unexpectedly received an equal total. Due to the tie, the election was decided by the Federalist-dominated House of Representatives. Hamilton actually lobbied Federalist representatives on Jefferson's behalf, believing him a lesser political evil than Burr. On February 17, 1801, after thirty-six ballots, the House elected Jefferson president and Burr vice president.
Jefferson was re-elected President in 1804, serving only two terms in deference to the example set by George Washington. He is most likely the first populist American President, and in fact a 1983 book containing many of Jefferson's writings, edited by Martin Larson asserts as much by its title, Jefferson: Magnificent Populist. Jeffersonians were deeply committed to Republicanism in the United States, which was defined as meaning opposition to aristocracy of any form, opposition to corruption, insistence on virtue, with a priority for the interests of farmers, planters, and "plain folk". They were antagonistic to the aristocratic elitism of merchants, bankers and manufacturers, they distrusted factory workers, and supporters of the British system of government. Jeffersonian democracy persisted as an element of the Democratic Party into the early 20th century, as evidenced by the rise of Jacksonian democracy and the three presidential candidacies of William Jennings Bryan. Its themes continue to echo in the 21st century.