Recent biographies of Thomas Jefferson have stressed the sphinxlike puzzles of his character -- famous champion of freedom yet lifelong slaveholder, foe of Miscegenation yet secret lover of a beautiful slave for thirty years, aristocrat yet fervent advocate of government by the people. E. M. Halliday's absorbing, compact, and lucid portrait recognizes these and other puzzles about this great founder, but shows us how understandable they can be in the light of his personal and social circumstances and common human experience.
Here are all the pivotal episodes of Jefferson's life: the writing of the Declaration of Independence, his years in Paris, his feud with Alexander Hamilton, the surprising Louisiana Purchase, and his post presidential reconciliation with John Adams. But Halliday's account takes readers deeper, into Jefferson's personal, private life, exploring his childhood, his literary taste, and his unconventional religious thinking and moral philosophy. Here, too, are his adamant opinions on women, the evolution of his ideas on democracy and freedom of expression, and fresh insights into his long relationship with Sally Heimings.
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Halliday starts off with a comprehensive sketch of Jefferson's life, from his father's death when he was 14 to his own death on July 4, 1826. Halliday describes Jefferson's college days, his passionate marriage, his trip to Paris, and, of course, his relationship with Sally Hemings, his slave and concubine.
Halliday's analysis of the Jefferson-Hemings affair is refreshing, given that many biographers have felt Jefferson lost all interest in sex after his wife's death (or, to quote Nick Nolte, who played the man in Jefferson in Paris, "The historians like to think that after Jefferson's wife died, his dick fell off"). Halliday lays out all the evidence, also noting that "most biographers have paid insufficient attention ... to the probability that some of her traits, of both appearance and character, were reminiscent of her half sister, Jefferson's greatly beloved wife." He then criticizes the "blinkered historians" who ignored or dismissed ample evidence of the affair--that is, before DNA testing proved that Jefferson fathered at least one of Hemings's children.
A series of related essays follows the biography, including a clear-eyed view of the relationship between history and fiction. Throughout the book, Halliday writes in a chatty, almost gossipy tone, noting the Marquis de Lafayette's "formidable expanse of forehead," describing Jefferson's "tall, lean but muscular figure," musing that "September in Paris, while less celebrated in love songs than April, can be a wonderfully sexy time of year." Entertaining, informative, and eminently readable, Understanding Thomas Jefferson will leave readers feeling that they do. --Sunny Delaney
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