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Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power - Jon Meacham
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
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3.94 80
In this magnificent biography, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion and Franklin and Winston brings vividly to life an extraordinary man and his remarkable times. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power gives us Jefferson the politician and president, a great and complex human being... show more
In this magnificent biography, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion and Franklin and Winston brings vividly to life an extraordinary man and his remarkable times. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power gives us Jefferson the politician and president, a great and complex human being forever engaged in the wars of his era. Philosophers think; politicians maneuver. Jefferson’s genius was that he was both and could do both, often simultaneously. Such is the art of power.   Thomas Jefferson hated confrontation, and yet his understanding of power and of human nature enabled him to move men and to marshal ideas, to learn from his mistakes, and to prevail. Passionate about many things—women, his family, books, science, architecture, gardens, friends, Monticello, and Paris—Jefferson loved America most, and he strove over and over again, despite fierce opposition, to realize his vision: the creation, survival, and success of popular government in America. Jon Meacham lets us see Jefferson’s world as Jefferson himself saw it, and to appreciate how Jefferson found the means to endure and win in the face of rife partisan division, economic uncertainty, and external threat. Drawing on archives in the United States, England, and France, as well as unpublished Jefferson presidential papers, Meacham presents Jefferson as the most successful political leader of the early republic, and perhaps in all of American history.   The father of the ideal of individual liberty, of the Louisiana Purchase, of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and of the settling of the West, Jefferson recognized that the genius of humanity—and the genius of the new nation—lay in the possibility of progress, of discovering the undiscovered and seeking the unknown. From the writing of the Declaration of Independence to elegant dinners in Paris and in the President’s House; from political maneuverings in the boardinghouses and legislative halls of Philadelphia and New York to the infant capital on the Potomac; from his complicated life at Monticello, his breathtaking house and plantation in Virginia, to the creation of the University of Virginia, Jefferson was central to the age. Here too is the personal Jefferson, a man of appetite, sensuality, and passion.   The Jefferson story resonates today not least because he led his nation through ferocious partisanship and cultural warfare amid economic change and external threats, and also because he embodies an eternal drama, the struggle of the leadership of a nation to achieve greatness in a difficult and confounding world.Advance praise for Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power   “Jon Meacham resolves the bundle of contradictions that was Thomas Jefferson by probing his love of progress and thirst for power. This is a thrilling and affecting portrait of our first philosopher-politician.”—Stacy Schiff   “This terrific book allows us to see the political genius of Thomas Jefferson better than we have ever seen it before. In these endlessly fascinating pages, Jefferson emerges with such vitality that it seems as if he might still be alive today.”—Doris Kearns Goodwin
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Format: hardcover
ISBN: 9781400067664 (1400067669)
ASIN: 1400067669
Publisher: Random House, Inc.
Pages no: 800
Edition language: English
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Community Reviews
mattries37315
mattries37315 rated it
4.0 Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
The complex life and the politics of the third President of the United States in a dramatic period in history are brought to the fore in Jon Meacham’s Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power. After nearly twenty years in which Jefferson’s reputation has taken a hit through both scientific revelations an...
Thewanderingjew
Thewanderingjew rated it
2.0 Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
There have been few times when I turned the last page of a book and sighed with relief, but this was one of them, although I listened to the audio so it was the final word I heard that gave me such pause. My husband had been reading the print book and found it very slow, so we decided to listen to t...
Bluebird
Bluebird rated it
4.0 Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
I finished Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power. I found it to be a well written and very readable account of Jefferson. I didn't realize until a few chapters into the book that there is a wealth of information buried in the end notes. They take up nearly 1/2 the book, so check them out if you plan on...
wjmcomposer
wjmcomposer rated it
5.0 Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
*edited to show how I received the book*I must note that I received this book through the History Book Club on Goodreads, through the Published as an advance copy, for which I am very grateful to both the History Book Club, and Random House, as well as the author, Mr. Meacham.This is a magnificent e...
jenniferwaggonerhartling
jenniferwaggonerhartling rated it
4.0 Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
This book was absolutely fascinating. I learned so much that I don't even know where to begin! Thomas Jefferson (or TJ as I like to call him) was fiercely in love with his country. He fought tooth and nail for the things he believed in. He knew how to get things done by using both his political powe...
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