Jefferson - Philosopher or Politician

From what i learned about Jefferson, he is essentially half and half depending on the situation. Jefferson was very adaptable and was not very stubborn in his ideals.

I think the main comparison you have to do is compare and contrast the Jefferson before he became a president (philosopher) and the Jefferson after he became president (Politician). I think you will find that Jefferson did not change simply because he was a "shrewd politican" but instead because of the responsibilities as president.

Analyze all of jefferson's beliefs before he took office (the doctrines of the Jeffersonian Republicans) and compare to what he actually did durign office. You will see that he was much more radical in belief that in reality. That is the main distinction between the "two faces" of Jefferson. Before he became president, Jefferson strongly opposed and loose interpretation of the Constitution( clause 1.8.18) and strongly believed in the elastic clause of the bill of rights (Amendment X). Thus, he was staunchly opposed to the BUS, Assumption, Funding at Par, Excise Tax etc. Furthermore as a philosopher, he wrote the Virginia and Kentucky Resolution which stated the doctrine of nullification (remeber that he was not in favor of secession. He just wanted the States to take action if the Supreme Court refused to do the duties it's suppose to do to check the powers of the other two branches).

As the president, Jefferson was much more conservative than what we normally would have expected him to be. Sure he did impose a spoils system and did end the excise tax and let the alien and sedition acts end but he allowed many federalist ideals to stay. As president, he saw the benefits of having a national bank (BUS) so he never bothered to remove its charter. He also continued with the policies of assumption and funding at par (which were implemented by Hamilton because of his thoughts on the "trickle down" effect). He even disobeyed the Constitution by purchasing the Louisiana Territory (remember that Congress only gave the delegates to France $10 million to purcahse New Orleans and any land West of Mississippi but Napoleon offered to sell the whole Louisiana Territory and New Orleans for $15 million).

Although Jefferson was different as a president and as a Congressman, he was essentially a supporter of the federal government. During his inaugural speech he stated "We're all republicans, we're all federalists".

Hopefully that helped =)