Thomas Jefferson Book

In June 1776, Thomas Jefferson, a 33-year-old delegate to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, wrote a declaration destined for immortality, a declaration which proposed, in words that have inspired Americans for more than two centuries, the establishment of a system of government that would make all men equal before the law.

For Jefferson, writing the Declaration of Independence was not only a supreme achievement. It was also, for author and newborn nation alike, a beginning. Thomas Jefferson went on to serve the United States of America as minister to France, secretary of state, and vice-president. Finally, in 1801, Jefferson became the third president of the United States, in which office he secured for himself ever-increasing prominence in the pantheon of America's founding fathers.

Thomas Jefferson, a giant among great men at the time of his death in 1826, seems still to overshadow the majority of his successors. His formulations of democratic principles continue to inspire students of political philosophy; his grasp of diplomacy still serves to guide modern statemen; and Thomas Jefferson's name will always be associated with America's quest for the creation of an ideal republic, a republic characterized by the commitment of its leaders and its people to reason, truth, justice, and humanity.

A biography of the third President of the United States whose many achievements include the writing of the Declaration of Independence.