acknowledgement from a friend and rival
- Thomas Jefferson (allthetropes.org)
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 - July 4, 1826) is best known for being the guy who wrote the Declaration of Independence. Later, he became the third president (1801 - 1809) of the United States of America and bought Louisiana from Napoleon. He then sent Lewis and Clark out to explore the newly purchased countryside. Jefferson was also known for designing (he was also an architect) the famous estate of Monticello, which served as his home. In fact, he’s probably the closest the U.S. presidency has ever had to an Omnidisciplinary Scientist, having also studied mathematics, philosophy, botany, music, archaeology, and several languages (notably French, Greek, Latin, Anglo-Saxon, and Gaelic). Not to mention he also founded the University of Virginia as he couldn’t find a university that could handle his terrifying intellect, and his 6,500-odd book collection formed the seed of the current Library of Congress (after the original contents of the Library were burned in the War of 1812). To top it all off, the guy invented macaroni and cheese and the swivel chair - quite probably the sort of chair your butt graces right now!
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Thomas Jefferson (plato.standford.edu)
Scholars in general have not taken seriously Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) as a philosopher, perhaps because he never wrote a formal philosophical treatise. Yet Jefferson was a prodigious writer, and his writings were suffuse with philosophical content. Well-acquainted with the philosophical literature of his day and of antiquity, he left behind a rich philosophical legacy in his declarations, presidential messages and addresses, public papers, numerous bills, letters to philosophically minded correspondents, and his only book, Notes on the State of Virginia.
- Thomas Jefferson (Wikipedia)
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, planter, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Following the American Revolutionary War and before becoming president in 1801, Jefferson was the nation’s first U.S. secretary of state under George Washington and then the nation’s second vice president under John Adams. Jefferson was a leading proponent of democracy, republicanism, and natural rights, and he produced formative documents and decisions at the state, national, and international levels.