May 222013
Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
The New York Times Book Review • The Washington Post • Entertainment Weekly • The Seattle Times • St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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 th
List Price: $ 35.00
Price: $ 13.90
A New Thomas Jefferson?,
I’ve read a couple books on Thomas Jefferson in the past. American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History to name a couple. Up until this newest book by Jon Meacham, I though that the essential character of Jefferson was essentially unknowable, a man of contradictions and hiddenness. Yet, Meacham manages, in his large but fascinating and quick read, to illuminate Jefferson through a new pair of eyes: that of his leadership. In doing so, we meet a new Jefferson, sometimes wily, always intelligent, always forward thinking.
Jon Meacham wrote one of my favorite books, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, which I’ve read at least twice and listened to on my iPod while running each summer. Meacham has a way of writing his history that manages to avoid the endless onslaught of names and trivial facts, and truly centers on the person. By doing so, he creates a momentum in his writing that’s compelling and hard to put down.
Meacham’s unique spin on Jefferson (if spin is the right word …. more of a focus) is how he developed his leadership and vision for America. This focus causes Meacham to rush in his writing through Jefferson’s early years (before you know it, he’s attending the second Continental Congress) and getting him to the national stage as quickly as possible, which was refreshening and never abrupt. He paints some familiar portraits of Jefferson, that of a hard working student in Williamsburg, a devoted husband (before being a bit of a scalawag in the wooing of women), and that of a slave owner who knew his status was wrong and failed to do anything about it.
Because of this, Jefferson comes alive in his pages. While not overtly revelatory, the book manages to be revelatory because you feel, after reading it, that you know better this sphinx of a man. The challenge of any historian is trying to make a subject that many people have written about new; authors of Washington and Lincoln biographies suffer the same fate. Because of the strength of Meacham’s writing style, though, and the speed in which you can devour the pages, Jefferson is illuminated.
If you haven’t read any book on Jefferson, this should be your initial entry into his world. It will be a journey, much like that of Jefferson and his wife as they traveled up the steep mountain of Monticello after they were married, which promises to bring much joy and excitement as you discover this man. And for those of you, like myself, who know a little of his story, it’s still well worth your time.
Was this review helpful to you?
|A Simpler, Sometimes Simplistic, View of Jefferson the Man and Statesman,
Throughout our history Presidents as politically diverse as Lincoln, Wilson, FDR, Kennedy and Reagan have enthusiastically embraced the legacy of their predecessor, Thomas Jefferson. Recent scholarship on the Founding generation, however, has unfairly diminished Jefferson in Jon Meacham’s view. Biographies of Washington, Adams and Hamilton have all tended to reduce Jefferson to the role of an intriguer lurking in the background, a foil for Hamilton and Adams in particular. In Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, Meacham reclaims Jefferson’s prominence in setting America on her course, asserting that most of the Presidents who served between 1800 and 1840 were Jeffersonians, and holds Jefferson up as a role model for today’s politicians struggling to reconcile political idealism with the realism needed to traverse the rough waters of democratic politics.
The Art of Power is a very well written narrative and moves at a fast paced with chapters generally ranging from 10-15 pages. While Meacham clearly admires Jefferson, though, he is able to acknowledge Jefferson’s failures and contradictions as well. However, there are several shortcomings that detracted from my enjoyment of the Art of Power.
First, while The Art of Power covers Jefferson’s personal and political lives thoroughly, Meacham appears to have been poorly served by certain curious editorial choices. His summation of Jefferson’s legacy appears in the Author’s Note, and much of the detail necessary to inform the reader of vital details is contained in the nearly 200 pages of end notes. For example the text makes it appear as if there is no question whatsoever regarding Jefferson’s paternity of his slave’s children. Only in the footnotes will the reader learn of the controversy and evidence supporting both Meacham’s conclusion and other possibilities. The complexities involved in other details of the Jefferson story sometimes also seem slighted in order to ensure the narrative pace remains speedy.
Next, despite his theme of a politician who mastered the art of power to successfully reconcile philosophy with practicality Meacham treads lightly on Jefferson’s philosophy (one of very few omissions in his lengthy bibliography, tellingly, is Jean Yarborough’s study of Jefferson’s political and moral philosophy). This is a shame because his portrait of a Jefferson that does not fit the libertarian mold is provocative and interesting. Meacham’s Jefferson is less antipathetic to large government, federal and executive power and commerce than is commonly understood today, but Meacham does little to explore further Jefferson’s thinking on these and other matters, nor does he attempt any explanation of why the Jefferson of common perception does not fit Meacham’s own reading, which would have been very interesting to me. His is a Jefferson more of action than thought.
Readers looking for a high readable introduction to the political events of Jefferson’s time or personal life will enjoy this work, and it seems to fill the need for a good medium sized Jefferson biography to fill the gap between R.B. Bernstein’s very perceptive short study and Merrill Peterson’s 1,000 page tome. Those seeking a more rounded treatment of all Jefferson’s facets may find themselves disappointed, however. Similarly, readers looking for a more robust treatment of the period may wish to utilize Meacham’s exhaustive bibliography for further reading.
Was this review helpful to you?
|The art of soft power,
I’ll admit to being a Jefferson fan. His vision is what led me to UVa, and his depth and breadth of knowledge and experience still astounds me. Truly a renaissance man who seemed to master most of what he attempted – languages, science, music, politics, and a man of stark contradictions. A man who owned slaves and yet campaigned to free them. A man who enjoyed political power but despised face to face confrontations. This book captures this man, and I think does an excellent job developing a focal point to use to understand Jefferson, his contributions and his flaws.
Meacham uses one “prism” to evaluate Jefferson’s life – the acquisition and use of power to achieve Jefferson’s vision and aims. While this is nominally a biography, the depth of the book lies in examining how and when Jefferson acquired and used power to achieve his aims. While I had hoped to read more about the University of Virginia, I knew the book wouldn’t spend much time on it, and it didn’t. The vast majority of the book is spent examining the unfolding disagreement between the Federalists, primarily in New England, who sought closer relationship with England and rule by the privileged and the few, and the Democrats, primarily in the Mid-Atlantic and South, who worked for individual democracy. It came as a surprise to me to learn that several times the Northeastern states contemplated secession over the style of government. This is little reported in US history.
Jefferson felt that the Revolution was fought to free the Americans to pursue individual freedoms, individual liberty which could only result from participative democracy. Many of the Federalists believed that the average citizen could not participate in government effectively and wanted a privileged ruling class. The battles fought during the end of Washington’s presidency and John Adam’s presidency were over this issue. When Jefferson won the presidency he used “Hamiltonian means to Jeffersonian ends” to quote the author. Jefferson actually strengthened the office of the presidency through the acquisition of Louisiana and many other actions that true “democrats” of his time felt left more power in the state than necessary. But, of the two visions – Federalist or Democratic – Jefferson clearly won and influenced the politics of the country for another half century. Many of his counterparts or followers became president (Madison, Monroe, Jackson) and this democratic vision defined the country at least until the Civil War.
Other reviewers have written about the gaps in the biography – not enough about Jefferson’s slave holdings, not enough about his education and early childhood, not enough about his development of UVa. But those are incidental to the book Meacham set out to write. While they are part of Jefferson’s life, they are not necessarily about his acquisition and use of political power to achieve his vision. When looked at in this context, the book is well-researched and very complete.
The one item that’s missing for me is the “why” – why Jefferson, a relatively wealthy man, a slave holder, an admirer of French and the aristocracy over the English – would come to champion individual liberty and democracy. Yes, he was influenced by Hume, Locke and others, but that still doesn’t explain the flash of insight that became such a compelling cause. Jefferson was surrounded by people who constantly failed – several sons and sons-in-law who were drunkards, bankrupts. He himself was a terrible manager of money. Yet he felt certain that the best government was the one that allows everyone, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, to participate in and to choose their leaders. What did he see, what did he believe about individual rights, freedom and the common good that led him to believe this English “rabble” could form a better government? Where those beliefs come from is still a bit of a mystery. Just as well, because he’s been called a Sphinx, and often held contradictory beliefs. Perhaps we’ll never really know what drove him, but The Art of Power goes a long way to explaining what he did and why he did what he did in the interest of his vision and the use of power.
Was this review helpful to you?
|