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An “irresistibly readable” (David Michaelis, New York Times bestselling author of Eleanor) collection of love letters by American presidents to their wives—and lovers—revealing an intimate and deeply personal side of our leaders.Our presidents loom so large in history that we often forget they are human. Are You Prepared for the Storm of Love Making? is a collection of handwritten love letters that offers a surprising and intimate portrait of the men who occupied the White House. From George Washington to Barack Obama, these are not the presidents we see in history books. “In this varied (and variously entertaining) assortment of excerpted letters…a careful reader will see in the decorous prose of…George Washington and Thomas Jefferson that the hearts of real men beat beneath their stiff frock coats, too.” (The Wall Street Journal) Some of the letters are incredibly romantic—and surprisingly so. It took Richard Nixon years to convince Pat Ryan to marry him: “Someday let me see you again? In September? Maybe?” Others will make you blush. Staid-looking Woodrow Wilson, about to return home from a trip, warned his wife of ten years: “Do you think you can stand the unnumerable kisses and the passionate embraces you will receive? Are you prepared for the storm of lovemaking with which you will be assailed?” In letters to one of his mistresses, Warren G. Harding referred to his penis as “Jerry”—letters which would later be used to blackmail him. All the letters show the writer at his most vulnerable. We see letters of sorrow written about the death of a child or during a time of separation while the president was away on the battlefield. This “lovely book, stuffed with romantic details…[is] a helpful reminder that historical figures are also human beings: petty, sappy, and flawed” (The New York Times Book Review), revealing a never-before-seen side of the men we still honor today.

In'President Roosevelt's Letters to His Children,'Theodore Roosevelt offers an intimate glimpse into the personal life of one of America's most dynamic and multifaceted leaders. This collection of correspondence showcases Roosevelt's affectionate and often humorous style, blending parental wisdom with a sense of adventure and exploration. Through these letters, readers are invited into the Roosevelt family's domestic sphere during a time when the nation faced significant political and social changes, illustrating how a great statesman balanced his public duties with deep familial bonds. The letters serve as both historical artifacts and literary expressions, reflecting vivid anecdotes of nature, politics, and the value of character education. Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, was not only a political powerhouse but also a devoted father. His upbringing in a well-to-do New York family, coupled with a profound love for the outdoors and education, shaped his understanding of the importance of guiding the next generation. These letters were written during his presidency, revealing a softer side of a man known for his energetic and rugged persona, as he sought to impart his values to his children amidst the turbulent landscape of early 20th century America. This collection is highly recommended for readers interested in the intersection of personal life and public service, offering insight into Roosevelt's character, parental philosophy, and the era's socio-political atmosphere. It will resonate with those who appreciate biographical scholarship and the rich tapestry of American history through the lens of family and leadership.

“Swede Hazlett was one of the people to whom I ‘opened up.'”—Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. Eisenhower and E. E. (“Swede”) Hazlett grew up together in Abilene, Kansas, and remained close, corresponding regularly from 1941 until Hazlett's death in 1958. The letters collected in this volume, many of them surprisingly revealing, contain Eisenhower's views on a wide range of diplomatic, military, and political issues. Taken together they constitute a remarkable inner history of Eisenhower's public career.Robert Griffith's introductory essay is a masterful account of the Eisenhower-Hazlett relationship and of the insights provided by their correspondence for understanding the Eisenhower years. Griffith's substantial headnotes give additional detail and context where necessary and provide a sense of narrative continuity to the correspondence.The Eisenhower who emerges from these pages bears little resemblance to the bumbling caricature produced by journalists in the 1950s. But neither does he fit the role assigned to him by so many people today, whether liberal critics of the Cold War, conservative opponents of Democratic fiscal policy, or White House aides attempting to “Eisenhowerize” Ronald Reagan. He is, rather, a complex and multidimensional historical figure whom we must study, on his own terms, if we are to fully understand our recent past.Open access edition funded by the National Endowment for Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Humanities Open Book Program.

A new definitive volume of the retirement papers of Thomas JeffersonThis volume's 627 documents feature a vast assortment of topics. Jefferson writes of his dread of “a doting old age.” He inserts an anonymous note in the Richmond Enquirer denying that he has endorsed a candidate for the next presidential election, and he publishes two letters in that newspaper under his own name to refute a Federalist claim that he once benefited by overcharging the United States Treasury. Jefferson does not reply to unsolicited letters seeking his opinion on constitutional matters, judicial review, and a call for universal white male suffrage in Virginia. Fearing that it would set a dangerous precedent, he declines appointment as patron of a new society “for the civilisation of the Indians.” Jefferson is also asked to comment on proposed improvements to stoves, lighthouses, telescopes, and navigable balloons. Citing his advanced age and stiffened wrist, he avoids detailed replies and allows his complaint to John Adams about the volume of incoming correspondence to be leaked to the press in hopes that strangers will stop deluging them both with letters. Jefferson approves of the growth of Unitarianism and predicts that “there is not a young man now living in the US. who will not die an Unitarian.”

Aaron Burr fells Alexander Hamilton in a duel in July, but Jefferson, caring little for either adversary or for disruptive partisan warfare, gives the event only limited notice. He contends with the problem of filling the offices necessary for the establishment of Orleans Territory on October 1. He is constrained by his lack of knowledge about potential officeholders. Meanwhile, a delegation with a memorial from disgruntled Louisianians travels to Washington. In August, the U.S. Mediterranean squadron bombards Tripoli. The United States has uneasy relationships around its periphery. Jefferson compiles information on British'aggressions'in American ports and waters, and drafts a bill to allow federal judges and state governors to call on military assistance when British commanders spurn civil authority. Another bill seeks to prevent merchant ships from arming for trade with Haiti. Contested claims to West Florida, access to the Gulf of Mexico, tensions along the Texas-Louisiana boundary, and unresolved maritime claims exacerbate relations with Spain. Jefferson continues his policy of pushing Native American nations to give up their lands east of the Mississippi River. Yellow fever has devastating effects in New Orleans. Abigail Adams terminates the brief revival of their correspondence, musing that'Affection still lingers in the Bosom, even after esteem has taken its flight.'In November, Jefferson delivers his annual message to Congress. He also commences systematic records to manage his guest lists for official dinners.

This volume's 571 documents cover both Jefferson's opposition to restrictions on slavery in Missouri and his concession that “the boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave.” Seeking support for the University of Virginia, he fears that southerners who receive New England educations will return with northern values. Calling it “the Hobby of my old age,” Jefferson envisions an institution dedicated to “the illimitable freedom of the human mind.” He infers approvingly from revolutionary movements in Europe and South America that “the disease of liberty is catching.” Constantine S. Rafinesque addresses three public letters to Jefferson presenting archaeological research on Kentucky's Alligewi Indians, and Jefferson circulates a Nottoway-language vocabulary. Early in 1821 he cites declining health and advanced age as he turns over the management of his Monticello and Poplar Forest plantations to his grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph. In discussions with trusted correspondents, Jefferson admires Jesus's morality while doubting his miracles, discusses the materiality of the soul, and shares his thoughts on Unitarianism. Reflecting on the dwindling number of their old friends, he tells Maria Cosway that he is like “a solitary trunk in a desolate field, from which all it's former companions have disappeared.”

This book contains a collection of letters between John and Abigail Adams. The letters not only reveal the depth of their relationship but also detail the sacrifices, the deprivations, and the emotions of war and separation in a personal, unguarded way. The balance of the masculine and feminine perspectives makes this book particularly interesting and unique.

Americans are not shy about letting politicians know what's on their minds, and, in Harry Truman, they believed that they had a president they could level with. He even sometimes responded personally to them—especially on subjects he felt strongly about. Today, it seems remarkable that a man who described the presidency as “the most awesome job in the world” would take the time to read and respond to White House mail.Truman, however, had an unquenchable thirst for what his “everyday Americans” were thinking, yet distrusted opinion polls. For him, the daily stack of mail provided the next best poll after the voting booth.Authors Giangreco and Moore include a robust cross section of the thousands of messages sent to Truman. Juxtaposed with informative background essays, these letters provide an undiluted account of the greatest challenges confronting the U.S. during Truman's administration, including civil rights, the Marshall Plan, the formation of Israel, the atomic bomb, the McCarthy hearings, the Korean War, and the General McArthur's dismissal, which alone solicited more than 90,000 missives. While the majority of the letters are from private citizens, others come from correspondents, the occasional bombastic senator, and a few from the world figures.

The 618 documents in this volume span 1 September 1819 to 31 May 1820. Jefferson suffers from a “colic,” recovery from which requires extensive rest and medication. He spends much time dealing with the immediate effects of the $20,000 addition to his debts resulting from his endorsement of notes for the bankrupt Wilson Cary Nicholas. Jefferson begins to correspond with his carpenter, the enslaved John Hemmings, as Hemmings undertakes maintenance and construction work at Poplar Forest. Jefferson and his allies in the state legislature obtain authorization for a $60,000 loan for the fledgling University of Virginia, the need for which becomes painfully clear when university workmen complain that they have not been paid during seven months of construction work. In the spring of 1820, following congressional discussion leading to the Missouri Compromise, Jefferson writes that the debate, “like a fire bell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror,” and that with regard to slavery, Americans have “the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go.”

Volume Five of the definitive edition of Thomas Jefferson's papers from the end of his presidency until his death includes 592 documents from 1 May 1812 to 10 March 1813. America declares war on Great Britain on 18 June 1812. Jefferson counsels domestic reconciliation while suggesting that America recruit British incendiaries to burn London if British ships attack American cities. He passes on to President James Madison a long and discouraging letter from Isaac A. Coles describing American military bungling in the Niagara Campaign. An unofficial proposal that Jefferson return to public life as secretary of state does not gain the retired statesman's support. Jefferson receives many requests for governmental patronage, responds insightfully to a colorful assortment of authors and inventors, is mildly diverted by a fraudulent perpetual-motion machine, and spends considerable time on legal troubles. A dispute with David Michie over land in Albemarle County nearly leads to a duel between Michie and Jefferson's agent. A conflict with Samuel Scott over property in Campbell County further vexes Jefferson, who prepares an extensively researched answer to Scott's complaint. Despite the conflict, Jefferson graciously writes a letter of introduction for Scott's son. Jefferson remains accessible to the public, receives anonymous letters urging him to convert to Christianity, and settles a wager for one correspondent who asks if Jefferson ever met the British king. Jefferson gloomily observes that'the hand of age is upon me'and complains that his faculties are failing. He still has thirteen years to live.

Volume Three of the definitive edition of Thomas Jefferson's papers from the end of his presidency until his death presents 567 documents covering the period from 12 August 1810 to 17 June 1811. Jefferson is now firmly ensconced in retirement at Monticello and Poplar Forest. He is not free from legal and political concerns, however, with the controversy over the 1807 federal seizure of the Batture Sainte Marie at New Orleans looming particularly large. Jefferson prepares for his defense against Edward Livingston's lawsuit by corresponding at length with his counsel and involved public officials, and seeking out documents and legal authorities to vindicate himself. He also seeks to end Philadelphia journalist William Duane's growing estrangement from mainstream Republican politics, lobbies for the appointment of a committed Republican to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court, and argues with the Rivanna Company over its proposed encroachments on his property. Other highlights are Jefferson's draft constitution for an agricultural society, his astronomical calculations, his notes on plantings at Poplar Forest, and his estimate of the cost of shipping flour. Documents on slaves and slavery include discussions of schemes for colonizing freed slaves in Africa, information on the medical condition of some of Jefferson's slaves, and an account of a visit to Monticello with a distinctly unflattering portrayal of the ex-president's standing in the community and his relations with his slaves.

'I have sometimes asked myself whether my country is the better for my having lived at all?'Jefferson muses in this volume. His answer:'I do not know that it is.'Required by custom to be'entirely passive'during the presidential campaign, Jefferson, at Monticello during the summer of 1800, refrains from answering attacks on his character, responds privately to Benjamin Rush's queries about religion, and learns of rumors of his own death. Yet he is in good health, harvests a bountiful wheat crop, and maintains his belief that the American people will shake off the Federalist thrall. He counsels James Monroe, the governor of Virginia, on the mixture of leniency and firmness to be shown in the wake of the aborted revolt of slaves led by the blacksmith Gabriel. Arriving in Washington in November, Jefferson reports that the election'is the only thing of which any thing is said here.'He is aware of Alexander Hamilton's efforts to undermine John Adams, and of desires by some Federalists to give interim executive powers to a president pro tem of the Senate. But the Republicans have made no provision to prevent the tie of electoral votes between Jefferson and Aaron Burr. Jefferson calls Burr's conduct'honorable & decisive'before prospects of intrigue arise as the nation awaits the decision of the House of Representatives. As the volume closes, the election is still unresolved after six long days of balloting by the House.

“An insightful study of a president who listened to even his harshest critics with grace and humility.”—The Washington PostNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY GLAMOUR Every evening for eight years, at his request, President Obama was given ten handpicked letters written by ordinary American citizens—the unfiltered voice of a nation—from his Office of Presidential Correspondence. He was the first president to interact daily with constituent mail and to archive it in its entirety. The letters affected not only the president and his policies but also the deeply committed people who were tasked with opening and reading the millions of pleas, rants, thank-yous, and apologies that landed in the White House mailroom. In To Obama, Jeanne Marie Laskas interviews President Obama, the letter writers themselves, and the White House staff who sifted through the powerful, moving, and incredibly intimate narrative of America during the Obama years: There is Kelli, who saw her grandfathers finally marry—legally—after thirty-five years together; Bill, a lifelong Republican whose attitude toward immigration reform was transformed when he met a boy escaping MS-13 gang leaders in El Salvador; Heba, a Syrian refugee who wants to forget the day the tanks rolled into her village; Marjorie, who grappled with disturbing feelings of racial bias lurking within her during the George Zimmerman trial; and Vicki, whose family was torn apart by those who voted for Trump and those who did not. They wrote to Obama out of gratitude and desperation, in their darkest times of need, in search of connection. They wrote with anger, fear, and respect. And together, this chorus of voices achieves a kind of beautiful harmony. To Obama is an intimate look at one man's relationship to the American people, and at a time when empathy intersected with politics in the White House.Praise for To Obama “I cried several times.”—Pete Souza “Beautifully researched and written... A moving and inevitably nostalgic or even elegiac read, redolent of the human grace and statesmanship of the Obama presidency.”—The Guardian “These stories, when you read them all together, tell the American story. They're inspirational, they're frustrating, they're angry, they're grateful, they're resilient.”—Valerie Jarrett

The Civil War's greatest general as you've never seen him before: A revealing collection of letters written by Ulysses S. Grant to his wife, Julia, perfect for American history buffs. Grant's intimate reflections on the War in Mexico and the Civil War “[show] his remarkable evolution from an insecure young soldier to a capable, self-confident general” (Ron Chernow).Ulysses S. Grant is justly celebrated as the author of one of the finest military autobiographies ever written, yet many readers of his Personal Memoirs are unaware that during his army years Grant wrote hundreds of intimate and revealing letters to his wife, Julia Dent Grant. Presented with an introduction by acclaimed biographer Ron Chernow, My Dearest Julia collects more than eighty of these letters, beginning with their engagement in 1844 and ending with the Union victory in 1865. They record Grant's first experience under fire in Mexico (“There is no great sport in having bullets flying about one in every direction but I find they have less horror when among them than when in anticipation”), the aching homesickness that led him to resign from the peacetime army, and his rapid rise to high command during the Civil War. Often written in haste, sometimes within the sound of gunfire, his wartime letters vividly capture the immediacy and uncertainty of the conflict. Grant initially hoped for an early conclusion to the fighting, but then came to accept that the war would have no easy end. “The world has never seen so bloody or so protracted a battle as the one being fought,” he wrote from Spotsylvania in 1864, “and I hope never will again.”

The 637 documents in this volume span 1 February to 31 August 1819. As a founding member of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors, Jefferson helps to obtain builders for the infant institution, responds to those seeking professorships, and orchestrates the establishment of a classical preparatory school in Charlottesville. In a letter to Vine Utley, Jefferson details his daily regimen of a largely vegetarian diet, bathing his feet in cold water each morning, and horseback riding. Continuing to indulge his wide-ranging intellectual interests, Jefferson receives publications on the proper pronunciation of Greek and discusses the subject himself in a letter to John Adams. Jefferson also experiences worrying and painful events, including hailstorm damage at his Poplar Forest estate, a fire in the North Pavilion at Monticello, the illness of his slave Burwell Colbert, and a fracas in which Jefferson's grandson-in-law Charles Bankhead stabs Jefferson's grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph on court day in Charlottesville. Worst of all, Jefferson's financial problems greatly increase when the bankruptcy of his friend Wilson Cary Nicholas leaves Jefferson responsible for $20,000 in notes he had endorsed for Nicholas.

During the thirteen months covered by this volume, Thomas Jefferson spent more than half of his time in Philadelphia serving as vice president under President John Adams and presiding over a Senate that was dominated by his political opponents, the Federalists. Debates in Congress took place against a backdrop of bitter partisan rivalry, characterized most famously by the near-brawl on the floor of the House between Matthew Lyon and Roger Griswold. Congress and the nation waited, in a'state of extraordinary suspense,'for dispatches from the American envoys in France. When the accounts of the XYZ Affair became public, the nation prepared for war. Two days after the Alien Friends Act was signed into law Jefferson left for Monticello, stopping at Montpelier to convey the latest news to James Madison. Disheartened and frustrated by the Alien and Sedition Acts, Jefferson penned the famous resolutions adopted in November by the Kentucky legislature. He kept his authorship a secret, however, seeking to avoid any appearance of'rashness'by Republicans. This endeavor reflected his struggle to make sense of the political direction of the nation in times he could neither comprehend nor accept. Jefferson continued to engage in scientific pursuits and fulfill his role as a promoter of American science and learning. He was reelected to the presidency of the American Philosophical Society, to which he presented his paper on the moldboard plow. He corresponded on American Indian languages, astronomy, and the Anglo-Saxon language. He longed for Monticello, and, as Jefferson had learned before, his property fell into neglect when he was away on public business. Renovations to the house slowed, supplies for the nailery were disrupted, and he had to arrange for the sale of his crops through intermediaries. With the prices of wheat low, he was drawn back into financial dependence on tobacco.

This volume documents exhaustively for the first time Edmond Charles Genet's dramatic challenges to American neutrality and Jefferson's diplomatic and political responses. After welcoming Genet's arrival as the harbinger of closer relations between the American and French republics, Jefferson becomes increasingly distressed by the French minister's defiance of the Washington administration's ban on the outfitting of French privateers in American ports, the enlistment of American citizens in French service, and the exercise of admiralty jurisdiction by French consuls in American ports. Although the Supreme Court declines to advise the executive branch on neutrality questions that Jefferson prepares with the President and the Cabinet, he helps to formulate a set of neutrality rules to meet Genet's challenge.Unable to convince the impetuous French envoy to adopt a more moderate course, Jefferson works in the Cabinet to bring about Genet's recall so as to preserve friendly relations with France and minimize political damage to the Republican party, in which he takes a more active role to prevent the Federalists from capitalizing on Genet's defiance of the President. Grappling with the threat of war with Spain, Jefferson involves himself equivocally in a diplomatically explosive plan by Genet to liberate Louisiana from Spanish rule. In this volume Jefferson also plays a decisive role in resolving a dispute over the design of the Capitol and plans agricultural improvements at Monticello in preparation for his retirement to private life.

Volume 14, from October 1788 through April 1789, continues and almost completes Jefferson's stay in France as American minister.

The description for this book, The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 8: February 1785 to October 1785, will be forthcoming.

The Louisiana Purchase dominates the months covered in this volume. Jefferson departs for Monticello to enjoy a needed respite after the busy three and a half months he has just spent in the nation's capital. Shortly before leaving Washington, he has a last meeting with his cabinet, after which he issues a proclamation to reconvene Congress on 17 October, three weeks early. It is the'great and weighty'business of the French government's stunning offer to transfer all of the Louisiana Territory to the United States that necessitates this important gathering. The event brings Jefferson enthusiastic congratulations from his friends and fellow Republicans. With Jefferson's great success, however, comes the reality of getting the agreement with France approved and implemented. The boundaries of the territory ceded are not even clear. In private letters to his trusted advisers, Jefferson discusses the proper course of action. Should both houses of Congress be called to consider the French offer? Is it prudent to make the substance of a treaty public? And perhaps most vexing, does this executive action require an amendment to the Constitution? Some Federalists criticize the plan, but an expansion of the nation's territory, proponents argue, will raise America's stature in the eyes of the world. With the widening of the country's borders, Jefferson's project to send an exploratory party westward seems even timelier. William Clark accepts Meriwether Lewis's invitation to join the expedition, and on the last day of August Lewis begins his journey down the Ohio River, the building of his boat finally complete.

After the congressional session ends, Jefferson leaves Washington and goes home to Monticello, where his ailing daughter Mary dies on 17 April. Among the letters of condolence he receives is one from Abigail Adams that initiates a brief resumption of their correspondence. While in Virginia, Jefferson immerses himself in litigations involving land. Back in the capital, he finds that he must reconcile differing opinions of James Madison and Albert Gallatin to settle a claim for diplomatic expenses. He corresponds with Charles Willson Peale about modifications to the polygraph writing machine. He prepares instructions for an expedition to explore the Arkansas and Red Rivers. William Clark and Meriwether Lewis send him maps and natural history specimens from St. Louis. Alexander von Humboldt visits Washington. News arrives that a daring raid led by Stephen Decatur Jr. has burned the frigate Philadelphia to deprive Tripoli of its use. Jefferson is concerned that mediation by Russia or France to obtain the release of the ship's crew could make the United States appear weak. Commodore Samuel Barron sails with frigates to reinforce the squadron in the Mediterranean. Jefferson appoints John Armstrong to succeed Robert R. Livingston as minister to France and attempts to persuade Lafayette to move to Louisiana. In Paris, Napoleon is proclaimed Emperor of the French. Jefferson has “brought peace to our Country and comfort to our Souls,” John Tyler writes from Virginia.

Just a few of the words of presidential wisdom found in Dear Young Friend:“I rejoice that you have learnt to write,…for as this is done with a goosequill, you know the value of a goose.” –Thomas Jefferson, to his granddaughter, Cornelia Randolph“As to the whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a bit of silly affection if were to begin now?” –Abraham Lincoln to Grace Bedell“If we are successful [in the election], it will not be handsome behavior for any of my family to exhibit exultation or talk boastingly, or be in vain about it.” –Rutherford B. Hayes, to his son “Ruddy”“The other sixty cents are for my other six grandchildren. They are not born yet.” –Theodore Roosevelt, to Marjorie Sterrett, who was collecting dimes to fund a battleship“The John Birchers are just Ku Klux without the nightshirts.” –Harry Truman to David S. McCracken“If you really believe, you will see them. My [Irish] ‘little people'are very small, wear tall black stovepipe hats, green coats and pants, and have long, white beards.” –John Kennedy to Mark Aaron PerduePresidents since Washington have written to children. Chief executives prior to the overwhelmingly busy present even went through the White House mail themselves, choosing what to answer—a task in the e-mail age now impossible. Some earlier presidents, even as late as Eisenhower, confided opinions to young people that they rarely confessed to their peers. The letters range in subject form the monumental to the immaterial—although almost nothing is insignificant to a child.

Este libro es una guía práctica y accesible para saber más sobre George Washington, que le aportará la información esencial y le permitirá ganar tiempo.En tan solo 50 minutos, usted podrá:• Descubrir más sobre el personaje de George Washington y su vida antes y después de llegar a la política, desde que nace hasta que muere, ya retirado de la vida política• Profundizar en el contexto histórico en el que se enmarca la vida del primer presidente de los Estados Unidos, con la agitación causada por las guerras entre ingleses y franceses• Analizar las consecuencias de la acción política de George Washington, con el establecimiento de las bases de la nación estadounidense y de la diplomacia con EuropaSOBRE en50MINUTOS.ES | Historiaen50MINUTOS.ES le ofrece las claves para entender rápidamente los principales acontecimientos históricos que cambiaron el mundo. Nuestras obras narran de forma rápida y eficaz una gran variedad de acontecimientos históricos clave de distintas épocas, desde la Antigua Grecia hasta la caída del muro de Berlín.¡Descubra en un tiempo récord la historia que ha marcado el rumbo del mundo!

This volume's 598 documents span 22 April 1818 to 31 January 1819. Jefferson spends months preparing for a meeting to choose the site of the state university. He drafts the Rockfish Gap Report recommending the location of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville as well as legislation confirming this decision. Jefferson travels to Warm Springs to cure his rheumatism but instead contracts a painful infection on his buttocks. His enforced absence from Poplar Forest leads to detailed correspondence with plantation manager Joel Yancey. A work that Jefferson helped translate, Destutt de Tracy's Treatise on Political Economy, is finally published. Salma Hale visits Monticello and describes Jefferson's views on food, wine, and religion. In acknowledging an oration by Mordecai M. Noah, Jefferson remarks that the suffering of members of the Jewish faith'has furnished a remarkable proof of the universal spirit of religious intolerance.'He receives long discussions of occult science and the nature of light by Robert Miller and Gabriel Crane. Abigail Adams dies, and Jefferson assures John Adams that their own demise will result in “an ecstatic meeting with the friends we have loved & lost and whom we shall still love and never lose again.”

Confessing that he may be acting'with more boldness than wisdom,'Jefferson in November 1803 drafts a bill to create Orleans Territory, which he entrusts to John Breckinridge for introduction in the Senate. The administration sends stock certificates to France in payment for Louisiana. Relieved that affairs in the Mediterranean have improved with the evaporation of a threat of war with Morocco, the president does not know yet that Tripoli has captured the frigate Philadelphia with its officers and crew. He deals with never-ending issues of appointment to office and quarreling in his own party, while hearing that some Federalists are'as Bitter as wormwood.'He shares seeds of the Venus flytrap with Elizabeth Leathes Merry, the British minister's wife. She and her husband, however, create a diplomatic storm over seating arrangements at dinner parties. Having reached St. Louis, Meriwether Lewis reports on the progress of the western expedition. Congress passes the Twelfth Amendment, which will provide for the separate election of president and vice president. In detailed notes made after Aaron Burr calls on him in January, Jefferson records his long-standing distrust of the New Yorker. Less than a month later, a congressional caucus nominates Jefferson for a second term, with George Clinton to replace Burr as vice president. Jefferson makes his first trials of the'double penned writing box'called the polygraph.

The 580 documents in this volume cover a wide range of fascinating topics. Jefferson receives impressions of a mammoth's tooth, altitude and meteorological observations, a call for a national pharmacopoeia, a discussion of primeval geology, and a letter that elicits Jefferson's opinion that cognition exists'in animal bodies certainly, in Vegetables probably, in Minerals not impossibly.'Jefferson leases his Tufton and Lego plantations to his grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph. The directors of the Rivanna Company rebut Jefferson's 1817 bill of complaint and he unwittingly ensures his eventual financial ruin by endorsing notes totaling $20,000 for Wilson Cary Nicholas. Jefferson adds to the collections of the American Philosophical Society and writes an extended introduction to the'Anas,'a corpus of official papers and political anecdotes documenting his service as George Washington's secretary of state. Jefferson drafts legislation to establish a public education system in Virginia. He attends a Masonic cornerstone laying ceremony for the nascent Central College's first pavilion early in October 1817 and is greatly pleased by the passage on 21 February 1818 of a law establishing a commission to plan a new state university, raising his hopes that Central College might soon become the University of Virginia.

In letters addressed to Presidents George Bush and Barack Obama, Ralph Nader provides incisive critiques of more than a decade of American policy decision and indecision. Each letter offers frank advice and shines light on government mishaps and missed opportunities for progress. With his signature dry wit, Nader holds these Presidents to their campaign promises. He also boldly points to the ignoble and sometimes heinous decisions made in pursuit of party platforms and misguided ideals. Covering a range of still-current topics--including the Iraq war, torture, the Crimean annexation, the minimum wage, worker's health legislation, and corporatism--these letters were wholesale ignored on receipt. Here they are reproduced to refute that fate in the spirit of true and healthy democracy.

Ronald Reagan may have been the most prolific correspondent of any American president since Thomas Jefferson. The total number of letters written over his lifetime probably exceeds 10,000. Their breadth is equally astonishing -- with friends and family, with politicians, children, and other private citizens, Reagan was as dazzling a communicator in letters as he was in person. Collectively, his letters reveal his character and thinking like no other source. He made candid, considerate, and tough statements that he rarely made in a public speech or open forum. He enjoyed responding to citizens, and comforting or giving advice or encouragement to friends. Now, the most astonishing of his writings, culled in Reagan: A Portrait in Letters, finally and fully reveal the true Ronald Reagan. Many of Reagan's handwritten letters are among the most thoughtful, charming, and moving documents he produced. Long letters to his daughter Patti, applauding her honesty, and son Ron Jr., urging him to be the best student he can be, reveal Reagan as a caring parent. Long-running correspondence with old friends, carried on for many decades, reveals the importance of his hometown and college networks. Heartfelt advice on love and marriage, fond memories of famous friends from Hollywood, and rare letters about his early career allow Reagan to tell his own full biography as never before. Running correspondence with young African-American student Ruddy Hines reveals a little-known presidential pen pal. The editors also reveal that another long-running pen-pal relationship, with fan club leader Lorraine Wagner, was initially ghostwritten by his mother, until Reagan began to write to Wagner himself some years later. Reagan's letters are a political and historical treasure trove. Revealed here for the first time is a running correspondence with Richard Nixon, begun in 1959 and continuing until shortly before Nixon's death. Letters to key supporters reveal that Reagan was thinking of the presidency from the mid-1960s; that missile defense was of interest to him as early as the 1970s; and that few details of his campaigns or policies escaped his notice. Dozens of letters to constituents reveal Reagan to have been most comfortable and natural with pen in hand, a man who reached out to friend and foe alike throughout his life. Reagan: A Life in Letters is as important as it is astonishing and moving.

For many Americans, George Washington is just the face on a dollar bill. This book changes that perception. George Washington, Revolutionary War general, Founding Father, and first president of the United States was a warm and fascinating man. He suffered the agony of adolescent passion, fell in love with his best friend's wife, and married the wealthy widow Martha Custis. He poured out his political and military woes to his brother Jack in the dark days of 1776, and in the midst of a miserable winter camped with his troops in Valley Forge, he wrote a chatty letter to a friend in England. All these incidents are here in Washington's own words. Only through what Washington called his'letters of friendship'can we fully understand this complex man. They show him joking with his favorite Frenchman, the Marquis de Lafayette, advising his younger relatives on love and marriage, writing with emotion to the unobtainable woman he loved, and reconnecting with her in his old age. Selected and edited by New York Times bestselling historian Thomas Fleming from the thirty-seven volumes of Washington's collected writings, this book will be a revelation to all.

Découvrez enfin tout ce qu'il faut savoir sur George Washington en moins d'une heure!Reconnu comme l'un des pères fondateurs des États-Unis d'Amérique, George Washington a participé à la naissance d'une nation. De la guerre de Sept Ans contre les Français à la définition du protectionnisme américain, de l'élaboration de la Constitution à la création des organes de gouvernement fédéral, il est au fondement des valeurs et de l'identité de ce pays en devenir, qui en garde encore aujourd'hui l'héritage.Ce livre vous permettra d'en savoir plus sur :• La vie du président• Le contexte politique et social de l'époque• Les temps forts de son action politique• Les répercussions de ses mandatsLe mot de l'éditeur :« Dans ce numéro de la collection « 50MINUTES|Grands Présidents », Mélanie Mettra nous présente avec passion la vie d'un homme hors du commun à qui l'on doit la fondation de l'une des plus grandes puissances du monde actuel. Si à l'époque George Washington a été choisi à l'unanimité pour présider cette nouvelle nation, le travail qu'il lui reste à faire s'annonce gigantesque. » Stéphanie DagrainÀ PROPOS DE LA SÉRIE 50MINUTES | Grands PrésidentsLa série « Grands Présidents » de la collection « 50MINUTES » présente plus de cinquante hommes politiques qui ont marqué l'histoire. Chaque livre a été pensé pour les lecteurs curieux qui veulent faire le tour d'un sujet précis, tout en allant à l'essentiel, et ce en moins d'une heure. Nos auteurs combinent les faits historiques, les analyses et les nouvelles perspectives pour rendre accessibles des siècles d'histoire.

The 584 documents in this volume cover the period from 19 January to 31 August 1817, during which Jefferson devotes much time and energy to founding Central College, the predecessor of the University of Virginia. In May 1817, at its first official meeting, the college's Board of Visitors authorizes land purchases and a subscription campaign that eventually raises more than $44,000. Jefferson also prepares a legal brief for his chancery suit against the directors of the Rivanna Company. After years of disagreements and failed negotiations, he composes and revises a legal statement of his claim to the property in dispute. Although the complaint is submitted to the court in May 1817, the case is not settled until December 1819. In March 1817 Jefferson's friend James Monroe begins his first term as president. During the summer Jefferson learns of the death of two friends, Madame de Staël Holstein and Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours. Late in the summer he visits Natural Bridge with two of his granddaughters. Jefferson continues to purchase books from Europe with the assistance of George Ticknor, and Stephen Cathalan helps him restock his wine cellar and pantry. Even though Jefferson answers his voluminous correspondence selectively, he still chafes under the burden.

Former President George H.W. Bush, revealed through his letters and writings from 1941 to 2010, is “worth its weight in gold…a valuable update of the life of an honorable American leader” (The Washington Post).“Who knew that beneath George Bush's buttoned-up propriety pulsed the warm heart of a prolific and occasionally poetic writer with a wacky sense of humor?” (People) Though reticent in public, George Bush openly shared his private thoughts in correspondence throughout his life. This collection of letters, diary entries, and memos is the closest we'll ever get to his autobiography.Organized chronologically, readers will gain insights into Bush's career highlights—the oil business, his two terms in Congress, his ambassadorship to the UN, his service as an envoy to China, his tenure with the Central Intelligence Agency, and of course, the vice presidency, the presidency, and the post-presidency. They will also observe a devoted husband, father, and American. Ranging from a love letter to Barbara and a letter to his mother about missing his daughter, Robin, after her death from leukemia to a letter to his children written just before the beginning of Desert Storm, this collection is remarkable for Bush's candor, humor, and poignancy. “An unusual glimpse of the private thoughts of a public figure” (Newsweek), this revised edition includes new letters and photographs that highlight the Bush family's enduring legacy, including letters that cover George W. Bush's presidency, 9/11, Bush senior's work with President Clinton to help the victims of natural disasters, and the meaning of friendship and family. All the Best, George Bush “will shed more light on the man's personal character and public persona than any memoir or biography could” (Publishers Weekly).

Bringing together core selections from and analysis of material documenting the uneasy collaboration between Herbert and Eisenhower, this collection incisively uses primary sources to illuminate the 1952 Republican nomination fight, the second Hoover Commission, and other key episodes during the Eisenhower presidency.

Abraham Lincoln can be a challenging exercise for, from a historical perspective, he emerges as an extraordinary individual—one who was clearly many things to many people. The most comprehensive portrait of noteworthy public figures can generally be seen in their personal letters and journal entries. Lincoln's wartime correspondence is no exception, and the letters he penned to his Civil War generals—through one of the most critical episodes in American history—are of singular importance. While Abraham Lincoln is responsible for a significant body of correspondence, this is the first time an editor has focused principally on the strategic and analytical comments to His Generals during the course of the American Civil War. Interpreting the thoughts and actions of Abraham Lincoln can be a challenging exercise, for he was clearly many things to many people. Precisely because of this complexity, he has become so much a part of America's ongoing search for itself, so deeply entwined in the tapestry of American history, that in many instances succeeding generations have been largely unable to picture him clearly and objectively in his own life and times. The selected pieces are specifically directed to Lincoln's observations on command and military operations, topics that have not been singularly addressed in previous Lincoln books. My intention is twofold: first, to add to the body of literature exploring leadership and governance during the American Civil War; and, secondly, and perhaps more importantly, to provide an additional glimpse into the character and thought processes of Abraham Lincoln as president and commander-in-chief. The letters collectively provide a unique glimpse into the character and thought processes of Lincoln as a military commander. Lincoln was not a natural strategist. He worked hard to master the subject, just as he had done to become a lawyer. Still, despite being forced to learn the functions of a commander-in-chief on the job, he demonstrates an oftentimes striking understanding of the issues. And, whether the subject might be a general memorandum of military policy, a reflection on the sentencing of a deserter, or pressing the attack on Confederate forces, he writes with remarkable clarity, insight, and concise eloquence. This text is both a comprehensive reference resource and a unique supplement to the existing literature. The original written communications, which succeeding generations of historians have repeatedly cited as the basis for the interpretation of events or conclusions of fact, are reproduced in their entirety. While more recent Lincoln books—Generals in Blue and Gray (Jones); Lincoln's Generals (Boritt); Lincoln and his Generals (Williams); and Lincoln on War (Holzer); among others—offer either general or specific examinations of selected aspects of Lincoln's presidency, any correspondence is usually treated as brief excerpts that may be cited out of context, or incorrectly interpreted by the reader. Here, by contrast, the format of the selected letters, as Lincoln wrote them, is preserved whenever possible, and they are presented for the interest of a general readership as well as for students of military, cultural, or political history. The addressees are identified, particularly those who have been lost to history, and, where indicated, explanatory notes are provided to assist the reader in placing the correspondence in its particular historical, political, or conceptual context. Readers are encouraged to arrive at their own conclusions as to the intention of a specific piece of correspondence.

The 558 documents in this volume cover the period from 1 May 1816 to 18 January 1817. During this time, Jefferson expects political upheaval in Great Britain, welcomes the imminent presidential transition from James Madison to James Monroe, and privately suggests substantial amendments to Virginia's constitution. Jefferson occasionally gives legal advice, including an opinion on whether perjury can be committed before a grand jury. He turns down a request to sell Natural Bridge, calculates the latitude of Poplar Forest and Willis's Mountain, receives a large shipment of foreign books, exchanges the last of a series of letters with Pierre Samuel Du Pont de Nemours, and is appointed a visitor of Central College. As before, sojourners flock to Monticello. The Baron de Montlezun and Francis Hall provide informative accounts of Jefferson's home, way of life, and thoughts on many subjects. Jefferson attempts to bring Destutt de Tracy's Treatise on Political Economy into print, offers biographical information for Delaplaine's Repository, and recommends revisions to a forthcoming biography of Patrick Henry. Jefferson and Francis Adrian Van der Kemp trade letters about Jesus's life and teachings, and after the ailing Charles Thomson circulates the mistaken idea that Jefferson has converted to Christianity, correspondents question him about his spiritual beliefs.

This volume opens on 4 March 1803, the first day of Jefferson's third year as president. Still shaken by the closing of the right of deposit at New Orleans, he confronts the potential political consequences of a cession of Louisiana to France that might result in a denial of American access to the Mississippi. But he resists pressures to seize New Orleans by force, urging patience instead. The cabinet determines in April that'all possible procrastinations'should be used in dealing with France, but that discussions with Great Britain move forward as well. In Paris, a treaty for the cession of the Louisiana Territory to the United States is signed, and in May the right of deposit is restored. On 3 July, word reaches Jefferson in Washington of the agreement that France has sold the entire Territory for $15 million. The glorious news, which may be the most momentous that Jefferson receives while president, appears in the National Intelligencer the following day. Having received congressional approval to send an expedition to locate a continental route to the Pacific, Jefferson drafts instructions and a cipher for Meriwether Lewis and arranges for the needed instruments. Following through on a promise to a friend to give his views of Christianity, Jefferson puts his religious creed on paper, a'Syllabus'of the morals of Jesus and the comparative merits of Christianity. He intends it only for a few trusted friends.

This volume opens on 13 November 1802, when Jefferson is in Washington, and closes on 3 March 1803, the final day of his second year as president. The central issue of these months is the closing of the right of deposit at New Orleans, an act that threatens the economic wellbeing of Westerners. Jefferson asks his old friend Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours to remind the French government of the strong friendship between the two nations. To disarm the political opposition, the president sends James Monroe, who is respected by the Federalists, to Europe as a special envoy to work with Robert Livingston in negotiating the dispute with France. Jefferson proposes a'bargain'that will result in the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory. In a confidential message to Congress, Jefferson seeks $2,500 to send a small party of men to explore the Missouri River. Congress concurs, and Jefferson's secretary Meriwether Lewis will lead the expedition. Settling the boundaries with Native American lands is a major theme of the volume. In reality,'settling'results in major cessions of Indian lands to the American government. During the months of this volume Jefferson never leaves the capital, even for a brief sojourn at Monticello. He does, however, enjoy a visit of six weeks from his daughters and two of his grandchildren. They participate in Washington society, capture the affection of Margaret Bayard Smith, and brighten Jefferson's days.

Volume Nine of the project documenting Thomas Jefferson's last years presents 523 documents from 1 September 1815 to 30 April 1816. In this period, Jefferson makes three trips to Poplar Forest. During two visits to the Peaks of Otter, he measures their altitude and his calculations are reprinted in several newspapers. Jefferson welcomes the returning war hero Andrew Jackson in a visit to Poplar Forest and offers a toast at a public dinner in Lynchburg held in the general's honor. With the end of the War of 1812, Jefferson uses European contacts to begin restocking his wine cellar and refilling his bookshelves. In a draft letter to Horatio G. Spafford, Jefferson indulges in a'tirade'against a pamphlet by a New England clergyman. Jefferson decides to drop the section from the letter but sends it to Richmond Enquirer publisher Thomas Ritchie with permission to publish it without Jefferson's name. An anonymous letter in the Washington Daily National Intelligencer on the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution elicits a similarly anonymous response from Jefferson. His family circle grows with the birth of a great-granddaughter. Despite a report of his death, Jefferson continues to enjoy perfect health.

Adams is remembered for the many letters she wrote to her husband while he stayed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the Continental Congresses. John frequently sought the advice of Abigail on many matters, and their letters are filled with intellectual discussions on government and politics. The letters serve as eyewitness accounts of the American Revolutionary War home front.

Volume Eight of the project documenting Thomas Jefferson's last years presents 591 documents dated from 1 October 1814 to 31 August 1815. Jefferson is overjoyed by American victories late in the War of 1812 and highly interested in the treaty negotiations that ultimately end the conflict. Following Congress's decision to purchase his library, he oversees the counting, packing, and transportation of his books to Washington. Jefferson uses most of the funds from the sale to pay old debts but spends some of the proceeds on new titles. He resigns from the presidency of the American Philosophical Society, revises draft chapters of Louis H. Girardin's history of Virginia, and advises William Wirt on revolutionary-era Stamp Act resolutions. Jefferson criticizes those who discuss politics from the pulpit, and he drafts a bill to transform the Albemarle Academy into Central College. Monticello visitors Francis W. Gilmer, Francis C. Gray, and George Ticknor describe the mountaintop and its inhabitants, and Gray's visit leads to an exchange with Jefferson about how many generations of white interbreeding it takes to clear Negro blood. Finally, although death takes his nephew Peter Carr and brother Randolph Jefferson, the marriage of his grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph is a continuing source of great happiness.Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.

Volume 38 opens on 1 July 1802, when Jefferson is in Washington, and closes on 12 November, when he is again there. For the last week of July and all of August and September, he resides at Monticello. Frequent correspondence with his heads of department and two visits with Secretary of State James Madison, however, keep the president abreast of matters of state. Upon learning in August of the declaration of war by Mawlay Sulayman, the sultan of Morocco, much of the president's and the cabinet's attention is focused on that issue, as they struggle to balance American diplomatic efforts with reliance on the country's naval power in the Mediterranean. Jefferson terms the sultan's actions'palpably against reason.'In September, he addresses the concerns of the mayor of New York City and the governor of South Carolina that free blacks expelled from Guadeloupe by the French will be landed onto American shores. Although he believes the matter will be dealt with by the states, he also instructs Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin to direct custom house officers to be watchful. In late August, Jefferson is alerted that he has been touched by the'breath of Slander,'when James T. Callender's accusations appear in the Richmond Recorder and make public his relationship with Sally Hemings. The president offers no comment, and a month later returns to Washington, where he continues planning for an impending visit by his daughters.Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.

The 526 documents printed in this volume run from 28 November 1813 to 30 September 1814. During this period Jefferson reviews the extant sources on the 1765 Stamp Act crisis to aid William Wirt, a Patrick Henry scholar; records his largely positive impressions of George Washington; and updates a reading list for law students that he had initially drawn up forty years earlier. In the spring of 1814 Jefferson becomes a trustee of the Albemarle Academy, the earliest direct ancestor of the University of Virginia. He is soon actively involved in planning for its establishment, helping to draft rules for governance of the academy's trustees and propose funding options, and he lays out an expansive vision for its future as an institution of higher learning. Jefferson also exchanges ideas on collegiate education with such respected scholars as Thomas Cooper and José Corrêa da Serra. Jefferson's wide-ranging correspondence includes a temperate response to a lengthy letter from Miles King urging the retired president to reflect on his personal religion, and a diplomatic but noncommittal reply to a proposal by Edward Coles that the author of the Declaration of Independence employ his prestige to help abolish slavery. Having learned of the British destruction late in August 1814 of the public buildings in Washington, Jefferson offers his massive book collection as a replacement for the Library of Congress. The nucleus for one of the world's great public libraries is formed early in 1815 when the nation purchases Jefferson's 6,707 volumes.Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.

Ronald Reagan, one of America's most beloved presidents, is now gone. But his voice lives on in this stirring and very personal collection of letters written during his presidency to his fellow Americans, showing us a new and surprisingly intimate side of our fortieth president. During even the busiest times in his presidency, Ronald Reagan took time out to respond to dozens of letters each week from the many friends and private citizens who wrote to him about their concerns. These letters, collected in the president's “Handwriting File,” have never been examined by historians. Now Ralph E. Weber and his son, Ralph A. Weber, have culled the best of this collection, arranged chronologically to track the course of political events during the eight years of his presidency. A fascinating glimpse at the issues facing the United States during the 1980s, Letters from the Desk of Ronald Reagan traces history in the making.

This volume opens on 4 March 1802, the first anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's inauguration as the nation's third president, and closes on 30 June. In March, a delegation of Seneca Indians comes to Washington to discuss their tribe's concerns, and Jefferson names a commissioner to handle a land sale by Oneida Indians to the state of New York. In April, the Senate ratifies a treaty with the Choctaw nation for a wagon road across their lands. Jefferson worries about an increasingly dictatorial France taking back control of New Orleans, prompting him to the intemperate remark that he would'marry'America's fortunes to the British fleet. Charles Willson Peale sends him sketches of the skull of a prehistoric bison found in Kentucky. During the closing, and very frustrating, weeks of Congress, he distracts himself with a cipher devised by Robert Patterson. He prepares lists of books to be purchased for the recently established Library of Congress and also obtains many titles for his own collection. Even while he is in Washington occupied with matters of state, Jefferson has been keeping close watch on the renovations at Monticello. In May, he has Antonio Giannini plant several varieties of grapes in the southwest vineyard, and he orders groceries, molasses, dry Lisbon wine, and cider to be shipped to Monticello in time for his arrival. He looks forward'with impatience'to the moment he can embrace his family once more.

Volume Six of the definitive edition of Thomas Jefferson's papers from the end of his presidency until his death presents 516 documents from 11 March to 27 November 1813. Although free from the cares of government, Jefferson cannot disassociate himself from politics entirely. He recommends to President James Madison during the War of 1812 that gunboats be used to protect the Chesapeake Bay, and writes to his congressional son-in-law, John Wayles Eppes, urging the repayment of the national debt and the reining in of the American banking system. Jefferson remains active and healthy, making trips to his beloved Poplar Forest estate, entertaining visitors at Monticello, and happily supervising the education of his grandchildren and other relations. His correspondence shows no signs of abating--he writes to John Waldo and John Wilson to discuss the improvement of English orthography, addresses Isaac McPherson as part of a plea for limits on government-sanctioned intellectual-property rights, and provides a study of Meriwether Lewis for Nicholas Biddle's History of the Expedition under the command of Captains Lewis and Clark. Finally, this volume records the most intense period of correspondence between Jefferson and John Adams during their retirement. In an exchange of thirty-one letters, the two men reveal their hopes and fears for the nation.

For the first two months covered by this volume, Thomas Jefferson is residing at Monticello, avoiding the'rather sickly'season in the nation's capital. His mountaintop house finally has a roof and both daughters and their families come to stay with him. Using cowpox vaccine received from Benjamin Waterhouse, he undertakes what he calls'my experiment,'the systematic inoculation of family members and slaves against the smallpox. In Washington, the construction of buildings for the nation's capital moves forward. The walls of the chamber of the House of Representatives now extend'up to the window heads,'with only three feet more to go. Jefferson considers the erection of this chamber as well as completion of a'good gravel road'along Rock Creek as crucial for'ensuring the destinies of the city.'The interior decoration of the President's House also progresses, with draperies, girandoles, and a chandelier furnishing the circular room. His carriage is ready to be shipped from Philadelphia. As the city takes shape, so too do the operating principles of Jefferson's administration. He dispatches a letter to his heads of department outlining'the mode & degrees of communication'for conducting their business. In mid-November, he enters a period of intense activity in the preparation of his first annual message to Congress, soliciting suggestions but personally drafting the document that he will submit in writing in early December.

“A wonderfully vivid account of the momentous era they lived through, underscoring the chaotic, often improvisatory circumstances that attended the birth of the fledgling nation and the hardships of daily life.”—Michiko Kakutani, New York TimesIn 1762, John Adams penned a flirtatious note to “Miss Adorable,” the 17-year-old Abigail Smith. In 1801, Abigail wrote to wish her husband John a safe journey as he headed home to Quincy after serving as president of the nation he helped create. The letters that span these nearly forty years form the most significant correspondence—and reveal one of the most intriguing and inspiring partnerships—in American history.As a pivotal player in the American Revolution and the early republic, John had a front-row seat at critical moments in the creation of the United States, from the drafting of the Declaration of Independence to negotiating peace with Great Britain to serving as the first vice president and second president under the U.S. Constitution. Separated more often than they were together during this founding era, John and Abigail shared their lives through letters that each addressed to “My Dearest Friend,” debating ideas and commenting on current events while attending to the concerns of raising their children (including a future president).Full of keen observations and articulate commentary on world events, these letters are also remarkably intimate. This new collection—including some letters never before published—invites readers to experience the founding of a nation and the partnership of two strong individuals, in their own words. This is history at its most authentic and most engaging.

Volume Four of this definitive edition of Thomas Jefferson's papers from the end of his presidency until his death includes 581 documents from 18 June 1811 to 30 April 1812. Between these two dates, Jefferson famously declares that,'tho'an old man, I am but a young gardener'; expresses hostility to dogs and joins in a petition for a tax to reduce their numbers; calculates lines for a horizontal sundial; surveys part of his Bedford County estate; and draws up work schedules for his Poplar Forest plantation and detailed slave lists for Poplar Forest and Monticello. Jefferson also takes readings of a solar eclipse; attempts to determine Monticello's longitude; measures Willis Mountain; and calls for a fixed international standard for measures, weights, and coins. Joseph Milligan publishes a revised edition of Jefferson's Manual of Parliamentary Practice in March 1812, and Jefferson sends William Wirt a detailed and colorful but largely negative portrait of Patrick Henry for use in his biography of the Virginia orator. Finally, and perhaps of greatest importance to posterity, in January 1812 correspondence resumes between Jefferson and his old friend John Adams, after a long hiatus resulting from their rivalry for the presidency in 1800.

In Volume 34, covering May through July 1801, the story of Thomas Jefferson's first presidential administration continues to unfold. He quickly begins to implement his objectives of economy and efficiency in government. Requesting the chief clerk of the War Department to prepare a list of commissioned army officers, Jefferson has his secretary Meriwether Lewis label the names on the list with such descriptors as'Republican'or'Opposed to the administration, otherwise respectable officers.'The president calls his moves toward a reduction in the army a'chaste reformation.'Samuel Smith, interim head of the Navy Department, in accordance with the Peace Establishment Act, arranges for the sale of surplus warships. Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin gathers figures on revenues and expenses and suggests improvements in methods of collecting taxes. Jefferson delivers an eloquent statement on his policy of removals from office to the merchants of New Haven, who objected to his dismissal of the collector of the port of New Haven. He makes clear that while his inaugural address declared tolerance and respect for the minority, it did not mean that no offices would change hands. On the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Fourth of July, Jefferson entertains around one hundred citizens, including a delegation of five Cherokee chiefs. And on 30 July, Jefferson leaves the Federal City for two months at Monticello.

Under normal circumstances, Thomas Jefferson would have had more than two months to prepare for his presidency. However, since the House of Representatives finally settled a tied electoral vote only on 17 February 1801, he had two weeks. This book, which covers the two-and-a-half-month period from that day through April 30, is the first of some twenty volumes that will document Jefferson's two terms as President of the United States. Here, Jefferson drafts his Inaugural Address, one of the landmark documents of American history. In this famous speech, delivered before a packed audience in the Senate Chamber on March 4, he condemns'political intolerance'and asserts that'we are all republicans: we are all federalists,'while invoking a policy of'friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.'Jefferson appoints his Cabinet members and deals with the time-consuming process of sifting through the countless appeals and supporting letters of recommendation for government jobs as he seeks to reward loyal Republicans and maintain bipartisan harmony at the same time. Among these letters is one from Catharine Church, who remarks that only women, excluded as they are from political favor or government employment, can be free of'ignorant affectation'and address the president honestly. Jefferson also initiates preparations for a long cruise by a squadron of American warships, with an unstated expectation that their destination will probably be the Barbary Coast of the Mediterranean.