American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson by Joseph J. Ellis

Believe it or not I actually purchased and read this entire book before realizing that it was written by the same guy who wrote the George Washington book I liked.  Not surprisingly then, I liked this book as well -- Ellis seemed to go out of his way to be objective, to the point of thoroughly presenting both sides of controversial viewpoints in regard to Mr. Jefferson, the 3rd President of the U.S. of A.   Yes, I was surprised that there were varying viewpoints on Thomas Jefferson as a whole, but we'll get into that in a bit...gotta stay on task here, reviewing the book.   The writing was detailed without being overdone and I believe the authors apparent goal, to outline and explain the former Presidents character, was accomplished...I definitely felt that I had been given insight towards him as a man, more-so than having been given a framework of his life accomplishments, of which there are, of course, many.  At times I did feel like JJ Ellis may have bordered on attacking his character actually, but as biographies tend towards the flowery and apologetic in relation to the subject I welcomed the counter points and he did also write of the positive as well, which again points to the objectivity of the book.   The length of the book was close to if not perfectly ideal.   Alright, now, to what I learned:

• The Declaration of Independence that he is credited for writing, was not exactly written from scratch.  It was more a reorganization of previously written documents (1689 English rights document and the Constitution of Virginia, etc. etc.), with a distinct unification of sentiment angle -- he deserves great credit for the effort, no doubt, but I guess I always though he just sat down one day and wrote it from his own thoughts and viola, it was what some consider the greatest document ever created.  I realize now that my thoughts were incredibly unrealistic, but then, I never really thought about it.
• States had their own Constitutions.
• The topic/issue of slavery was discussed during the framing of the Declaration of Independence and purposely side stepped...this completely shocked me as I didn't think it was on anyone's radar until Lincoln decided slavery just wasn't right -- yes, I am that ignorant, or rather I was.  
• Jefferson was not a good money manager.  He didn't seem to understand the concept of spending only what he actually had.
• Alexander Hamilton was quite a figure in history...if I ever finish this project I'd really like to read a biography or 2 about him.   Jefferson didn't like him at all, but I guess probably liked him more than his VP, Aaron Burr, did.  
• Thomas Jefferson commissioned the very cool and very bold Lewis and Clark Expedition...I had no idea at all when L & C went on their journey nor any of the reasons they did, prior to reading this book anyway.
• The Louisiana Purchase was completed during TJ's presidency.
• It did not include the Southwest...my head was seriously spinning learning that as I really did think it was everything west of the Mississippi.   I did very well in every history class I took too, seriously, I did.
• The Secretary of State is in charge of foreign policy.  I find it amazing that I enjoyed as many Ludlum, Flynn, Clancy etc. books and similarly themed movies as I did without being aware of that.   It was also a monstrously important political position in the first era of our country having been a pathway to the Presidency for Jefferson and then 4 other of the first 9 Presidents.  (I'll let you know when I think an "era" begins and ends in relation to our country...right now I'm thinking Pre-Civil War is Era 1, but I may amend that as I learn more)
• Party related "politics" have been a part of our history since George Washington left public service.
• Thomas was portrayed convincingly as a conniving, manipulative person who, while being perhaps naively and inspiringly optimistic about the country and its people's lot in life, was basically dishonest in some instances.   For this reason I do not think that the typical UVA graduate would appreciate this book very much.
• I want to visit Monticello.
• The French Revolution was literally RIGHT AFTER ours.
• Jefferson's mentoring type relationship with Madison and Monroe was pretty incredible.
• He died on the same day, the 50th anniversary of July 4th 1776, as John Adams, his friend/peer/enemy/friend/peer/enemy/friend.

OK, I'm pretty sure I learned more than just those points actually, as again Ellis seemed to write in a style that I found easy to read, but it's been a while since I finished the book, so I have probably now forgotten everything else I learned...I might have to do this project again...I was eager to read about James Madison next though...and with that, I'll end this post.