Book Description

Excerpt from Jefferson the President: First Term, 1801-1805 On turning the leaves of the calendar backward I am dismayed by the discovery that I have been unable to proceed through Jefferson's presidency as an investigator and writer any faster than he himself did as a living man. I have met with a number of unforeseen interruptions, but my main difficulties have arisen from the very nature Of the task. His presidency was much the most complicated part of Jefferson's career and the materials bearing on it are considerably more extensive than in any other equivalent period of his long life. During his presiden tial years, as in no others, his Story merges with the history of the country. He has to be related to far more events and persons than when he was a lesser official or when, retired at Monticello, he was above the battle. He repaired to that cherished sanctuary regularly while First Citizen, but not even there could he be a private man. He received communications about public affairs by every post, and only when riding on horseback about his farms, or tinkering with some gadget, or enjoying the companionship of his beloved family, could he be oblivious of what was going on in the country and the world. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.