Accountability Quote by Jon Meacham

“But this does not detract from the wisdom of his faith in the people and his constant insistence that they be left to manage…

— Calvin Coolidge

“Rather than adjust his expectations in the face of disappointment, he (Jefferson) tended to bury them deeper inside himself and regard the disjunction between…

— Anonymous

“It was of course Jefferson’s gift at one time or another to put with eloquence the “right” answer to every moral question. In practice,…

— Gore Vidal

“leadership often comes with a lot of executive responsibility, but not always the authority afforded to executives.”

— Richard Banfield

“America has always been torn between the ideal and the real, between noble goals and inevitable compromises. So was Jefferson. In his head and…

— Jon Meacham

“Broadly put, philosophers think: politicians maneuver. Jefferson's genius was that he was both and could do both, often simultaneously. Such is the art of…

— Jon Meacham

“His first term is a model in executive restraint; it turned around an American political system that had deviated widely from the promises that…

— Brion T. McClanahan

“According to the Constitution as ratified, the legislature was to be the most powerful and important branch of government. Jefferson echoed this theme in…

— Brion T. McClanahan

“In politics and in his personal life, Thomas Jefferson was a complicated man, but in one thing he was consistent: the wanted the best…

— Thomas J. Craughwell

“I do not believe that Mr. Jefferson ever hated me. On the contrary, I believe he always like me: but he detested Hamilton and…

— John Adams

“Long habit had accustomed the American people to the notion of a party in power, and of a President as its creature and organ,…

— James Russell Lowell

“Jefferson’s decision to acquire Louisiana without seeking a constitutional amendment expanded the powers of the executive in ways that would likely have driven Jefferson…

— Jon Meacham