Is Thomas Jefferson a good president?

G12C2 Arthur
Thomas Jefferson is the third president of the United States. He was the founding
father of the United States, and he was the main author of the Declaration of Independence. Some p
eople believe that he is one of the most brilliant president in U.S, while other
s think that he fails to qualify the standard of a great person. In my opinion,
Thomas Jefferson is not a good president.

When people want to determine whether a person is good or bad, people always foc
us on the achievement which the person have. If the person have a lot of great t
itles and a good reputation, people always think he is great. However, I think p
eople should focus on what the person have done, not what he said or showed to p
eople. Jefferson deserves to be ranked as one of the most disappointing, since there was so
much that he could have done, was expected to do, but did not do.

Jefferson’s words are not consistent with his deeds. Jefferson described the African slave trade
as a "moral decay" and a "terrible stain" on the United States, during his early political ca
reer. He strongly disagree with the existing slavery. He was loved by the people w
ho lived in Virginia. However, while Jefferson denounced slavery, he owned a real slave
kingdom. When he realized the economic benefits of free forced labor, Jefferson built his pri
vate plantation, Monticello, which is a world cultural heritage. He became a slave owner.
About 130 slaves lived there. Jefferson, who became silent about the slavery in the 1790s,
forced about 600 people to work for him and 400 of them were born in Monticello. Jefferson
modeled Monticello as a small town which ran entirely by slave labor. Work in Monticello
included forge, carpentry, textiles, agriculture. Its main operating center was a nail factory, and
Jefferson boasted in numerous letters about its profitability. Jefferson also ordered enslaved
children to work in factories to determine who did well and deserved extra rations, and who did
poorly, Jefferson would punish them. He told people “everyone is equal” and he wrot
e “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence, but he seemed to have
forgotten what he said and wrote. People have been deceived by what Jefferson sa
id. The obvious contribution he did against slavery was that he released his son
s who were born by slaves. Evidences have shown that he raped his slaves. Theref
ore, Jefferson is partly hypocritical.

In addition to the inconsistency of his belief and his words, he also fails to
become the President people expected. As a citizen, I hope that presidents in my coun
try can benefit the people. Every one hope that presidents in their country can benefit
people. However, what Jefferson did during his political career are mostly
meaningless to people. He used a lot of time playing politics. Thomas Jefferson ran
against John Adams for President, the first passive political campaign in American history. As a v
ice president, Jefferson bribed a reporter called James Callender. In order to win
the campaign, he released many government secrets about Adams to the reporter. H
e also let the reporter to create fake information that Adams want to have a war
with France. Then the result was Jefferson became the president and Adams resign
ed his president position. His purpose was just to get more political power. His
attention was not on the whole country and he betrayed the trust of people. On t
he other hand, the ending of the campaign is hilarious. The reporter betrayed Je
fferson. Jefferson did not admit what he had done. Therefore, the reporter direc
tly put those letters which were wrote by Jefferson on the newspaper. At that ti
me, Jefferson suddenly appeared to have amnesia and cannot recognized his letter
s. Today, we know that bribery from a vice president is a felony, but legislation
system was inadequate and no one could punish Jefferson. At best, it was a matter of
morality. At best, he broke Adams’s heart. Jefferson was not a worthy friend or even ally.
When there is divergent interests, Jefferson will maximize his private interests. W
e can also see this situation in the slavery problem I mention. He only cares ab
out his interests. In this regard, Jefferson really let people down.

Today, there are many racial problems about white and black in United States. Ne
ws and videos are spread all over the world. Black people protested in streets a
nd raised parades. I have noticed that one of statues of Jefferson have been pus
hed over and destroyed by black people. Why this happened? I believe this must r
elate to Jefferson himself. There were so much that he could have done, was expected to
do, but did not do. He could largely solve the slavery and inequality problem, since
he was the speaker of Virginia, but he didn’t. He could benefit people a lot, i
nstead of playing political tricks, but he didn’t. He could follow the idea of
Hamilton that US need to build a central bank which Jefferson later used to sati
sfy his interests, but he didn’t and he think there is no need. Although we kno
w that Jefferson was one of the founding father of US, he wrote the Declaration of
Independence, he enlarge the national territorial area, and other achievements, we stil
l know that there are many things that he did in totally wrong way. Many economi
cal and racial problems existed, because of Jefferson.

So I think that, compared with his contemporary America's founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson had
no governing and auxiliary ability and justice public virtues that Franklin, Washington, Adams,
and Hamilton had. There are only flags of democracy and freedom, speakings for all day
long to glorify his incompetence, and self-serving tricks by using various methods. I think what
Jefferson accomplished in life were only superficial words and has no essential impacts on the
country.