Man, is it HARD to seperate the "President" from the "over-all" man... especially when talking about such historical giants as Adams, Jeffeson, Washington and Madison. These men has absolutely epic careers, and to look into one small (and yes, the span of even two terms in office for someone like Jefferson is small in comparison to his whole career) is difficult in the extreme.
That said, let's look at my Jefferson card...
(NOTE: I'm pressed for time here, so I didn't seperate his two terms in office...)
Thomas Jefferson
1801 - 1809
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Topic.................... Grade
Foreign Policy........... 92 (A-)
Domestic Policy........ 74 (C)
Economic Policy........ 80 (C-)
Cabinet.................... 95 (A)
Legacy..................... 96 (A)
Final Grade: 87.4 (B)
Jefferson won two wars with the Barbary States, kept the US out of a war with both France and England... but alienated much of the good will of the citizenry through increases in taxes and the Embargo Act of 1807. He was firm in his commitment to limited government and a balanced budget, but disregarded both principles with the annexation of Louisiana for $15 million (three times the annual budget of the then-US government for twice the territory) and the creation of the Louisiana Government Bill, which was little more than taxation without representation for the people living within the new territory... something he fought so hard against only 30 years earlier.
I gave him high marks for his Cabinet, because he masterfully manipulated both his own Democratic Republicans and the remaining Federalists and Hamiltonians by picking and choosing who had to go and who could stay. Very shrewd, very well played. His legacy (as President, and nothing more) is solid and well-founded.
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This is, perhaps, too low of a grade. I'm busy today with all the stuff that has to get ready for the big birthday party on Saturday, but I've been thinking that I didn't give enough credit to Jeffeson for his "total" domestic agenda.
He was pretty liberal (in the classic sense) towards the native peoples he dealt with, including Tecumsah in the Ohio region, and he did truly try to stay within the model of Executive leadership that he helped design. While I think his annexation of Louisiana was unprecedented, that doesn't make it "bad" and can only be seen as a boon to the country as a whole, given what we know today.
This card will need some review, and it would be damn nice if we could debate it here on the Bund, too...
(ahem)
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