Thomas Jefferson was America's Leonardo da Vinci. He was a horticulturist, naturalist, inventor, and educator; an inveterate tinkerer, a painstaking diarist and record keeper, and an archaeologist with a lust for exploration. He had a gift for the pen and a love of books, and he was a linguist able to read and write in seven languages. He was the epicure who brought ice cream to America and the farmer who determined that the tomato was an edible fruit. He was a philosopher, educator, and institution builder, the president of the American Philosophical Society, the founder of the University of Virginia, and the creator of the Library of Congress.
He was the man who confronted James Madison over the Bill of Rights, insisting that it be added to the Constitution, and the man who coined the phrase, "wall of separation," between church and state.
He was also a man of puzzling contradictions. He was a gourmet, yet we have him to thank for macaroni and cheese. He was adamantly opposed to a national debt, but his own personal finances were a disaster. He was a strict constitutionalist, yet he violated the Constitution to make the Louisiana Purchase. He held the highest offices in our system (Ambassador, Governor, Vice President, and President), but he was a reluctant politician. His two inaugural addresses rank among the greatest, but he was such a miserable public speaker that he sent the State of the Union to Congress in writing. He had a thin skin; he wasn't cut out for politics; and yet his face is on Mount Rushmore.
He wrote the most soaring words in language about rights, liberty, and equality, but he held slaves. We pondered this contradiction in morning devotional on the bus, and couldn't decide what to make of it. On the one hand, Thomas Jefferson was a product of his time, and it would seem just as unfair to judge him as it would be to judge Martin Luther for not having the Book of Mormon. On the other hand, he seriously considered releasing his slaves, and must have had the ability to do so, but didn't.
In the end, we decided not to judge the man, but to learn from him instead, taking our cue from the words of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland:
Be kind regarding human frailty. Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. As one gifted writer has suggested, when the infinite fulness is poured forth, it is not the oil's fault if there is some loose because finite vessels can't quite contain it all. Those finite vessels include you and me, so be kind and patient and forgiving. [Excerpted from "Lord, I Believe," April 2013 General Conference.]All of Jefferson's passions are on display in Monticello, the home he designed and built to serve as his autobiographical statement. Because of his meticulous record-keeping, Monticello is one of the best-documented, best-preserved, and best-studied plantations in North America. Collections, artifacts, portraits, specimens, and inventions are on display throughout the home, just as he left them. In his day, Jefferson used these to engage high-ranking visitors in dialogue on education, liberty, and self-government. Two hundred years later, we are keeping this dialogue alive, and Monticello now stands as a monument to the American genius who enshrined our rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
