Thomas Jefferson [politics]

Calvin

Welcome to Headstones and Microphones where we use AI to step into the past through a researched, first-person simulation of history's most interesting people. I am your host, Calvin. While we’ve added some creative storytelling, our goal is to inspire your own study of these fascinating lives. Now, let’s meet our guest.

Calvin

I am absolutely honored to have a true giant of history with us today. He was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence and the third President of the United States. For those who may somehow not know who you are... who are you?

White Male Guest

I am Thomas Jefferson. I’ve been called a many things—a Virginian, a farmer, an architect, and a man of letters—but I always preferred to be remembered as the author of the Declaration of American Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and the Father of the University of Virginia.

Calvin

Incredible. Let’s go back to the roots. When and where were you born?

White Male Guest

I was born on April 13, 1743, at a place called Shadwell in the Colony of Virginia.

Calvin

What was your given name at birth?

White Male Guest

Simply Thomas Jefferson.

Calvin

Is there a story behind your birth name?

White Male Guest

It was a traditional family name. My grandfather was Thomas, and my father, Peter Jefferson, chose to carry that lineage forward.

Calvin

What was your hometown like growing up?

White Male Guest

Shadwell was on the edge of the wilderness at the time. It was beautiful, rolling hills and dense forests. It was quiet, but full of the wonders of nature, which I found far more interesting than the busy streets of a city.

Calvin

What was your family life like?

White Male Guest

My father was a surveyor and a man of great physical strength and intellect. He taught me the importance of hard work and education. My mother, Jane Randolph, came from a very prominent family. I had many siblings, and our home was always filled with the coming and going of guests and the business of a working plantation.

Calvin

What kind of kid were you?

White Male Guest

I was quite studious, perhaps to a fault! I loved to wander the woods with a book in my hand. I was also very fond of the violin; I spent many hours practicing, sometimes up to three hours a day.

Calvin

What were your biggest fears growing up?

White Male Guest

I think my greatest fear was the loss of intellectual liberty. I was always wary of anything that might constrain the mind or prevent a person from seeking the truth.

Calvin

What did you dream of becoming as a child?

White Male Guest

I didn't necessarily dream of politics. I wanted to be a man of science and a gardener. I saw the earth as a great laboratory and wanted to understand how everything grew and functioned.

Calvin

What were some of your favorite activities in school?

White Male Guest

I loved the classics—Latin and Greek were favorites. I also found great joy in mathematics and natural philosophy. I studied at the College of William & Mary, where I was lucky enough to have mentors who opened my eyes to the Enlightenment.

Calvin

What was your first job?

White Male Guest

I practiced law. I was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1767. It was a rigorous profession that required a great deal of reading and sharp reasoning.

Calvin

Was there a moment where you realized you were different from everyone else?

White Male Guest

I wouldn't say I felt "different" in a boastful way, but I realized early on that I had a particular stamina for study that others lacked. I could stay in my library for days on end, completely lost in the thoughts of the great philosophers.

Calvin

What’s a decision that changed everything for you, but felt small at the time?

White Male Guest

Choosing to attend the House of Burgesses. It seemed like a natural step for a young lawyer, but it placed me right in the center of the growing tensions with Great Britain.

Calvin

What was your biggest break?

White Male Guest

Being asked to draft the Declaration of Independence. I was only thirty-three years old! John Adams insisted I do it because he said I had a "happy talent for composition." I didn't realize then that those words would echo through the centuries.

Calvin

What were your biggest struggles before success?

White Male Guest

I was notoriously shy in public speaking. I had a thin voice and a bit of a stutter when I got nervous. I had to learn to lead through my pen rather than my voice.

Calvin

Did you ever consider quitting?

White Male Guest

Many times I wished to retire to my "little mountain," Monticello. I often referred to my time in public service as a "shackle" and longed for the peace of my farm and my books.

Calvin

Were there any specific daily habits or routines that you feel are essential to your success?

White Male Guest

I rose with the sun every single day. I would immediately record the temperature and the weather. I also kept a "Commonplace Book" where I wrote down every interesting quote or idea I encountered in my reading.

Speaker 1

What job would you have had if fame never happened?

White Male Guest

I would have been a simple farmer and an architect. Designing Monticello was one of the great joys of my life.

Calvin

What was your life like before fame?

White Male Guest

It was centered on my family and the building of my home. I was deeply in love with my wife, Martha, and we spent our days making music and planning our future together.

Calvin

How did relationships change after success?

White Male Guest

Politics is a bitter business. It strained many friendships, most notably with John Adams. We were close, then we were rivals, and it took many years to find our way back to being friends again.

Calvin

Did fame bring happiness?

White Male Guest

Not in itself. Happiness, for me, was found in a new book, a successful crop, or a letter from a friend. Fame often felt like a burden that kept me from those things.

Calvin

What was the downside of becoming famous?

White Male Guest

The constant scrutiny and the viciousness of the press. In the election of 1800, they said some truly terrible things about my character. It was exhausting.

Calvin

What misconceptions did people have about you?

White Male Guest

Many thought I was an atheist because I believed in the separation of church and state. In truth, I was a man of deep, though private, faith. I even created my own version of the Gospels by cutting out the parts I found most moral and practical.

Speaker 2

What was your darkest moment?

White Male Guest

The death of my dear Martha in 1782. I was so distraught that I stayed in my room for weeks. I promised her I would never marry again, and I kept that promise.

Calvin

What past regrets did you carry, that you spoke about?

White Male Guest

I always regretted the debt I accumulated. I had a "noble" taste for fine wine, books, and construction, and it left my finances in a state of ruin that haunted me until the very end.

Calvin

What’s something people misunderstood about your life?

White Male Guest

My views on slavery. I wrote that "all men are created equal," yet I held people in bondage. It was a crushing paradox that I struggled with, and I feared for my country because of it.

Calvin

Tell me about a time when everything went wrong and how did you handle it?

White Male Guest

During the Revolutionary War, when I was Governor of Virginia, the British invaded and I had to flee Monticello to avoid capture. I was criticized for "running away," but I had to ensure the government survived. I handled it by focusing on the work ahead and ignoring the critics as best I could.

Calvin

Did fame and fortune change your life?

White Male Guest

Fame certainly did, but fortune was something I never quite grasped! I died with very little money, despite the high offices I held.

Calvin

Who had the biggest influence on your life?

White Male Guest

Dr. William Small, George Wythe, and Lord Fauquier. They were my "triumvirate" at William & Mary who taught me how to think.

Calvin

What was life like in your final years?

White Male Guest

I spent them at Monticello, entertaining a constant stream of guests—sometimes so many that my family had to find places to sleep! I spent my remaining energy founding the University of Virginia.

Calvin

When and where did you pass away?

White Male Guest

I passed away at Monticello on July 4, 1826—exactly fifty years to the day after the Declaration was signed.

Calvin

What happened?

White Male Guest

I was eighty-three, and my body simply gave out. I stayed alive long enough to see that fiftieth anniversary. It was a poetic ending, I suppose.

Calvin

What’s a random fact about you most people have never heard?

White Male Guest

I was obsessed with fossils! I once had a collection of mastodon bones spread out on the floor of the East Room of the White House.

Calvin

What’s the craziest rumor ever told about you?

White Male Guest

That I was a secret agent for the French! My love for French culture and wine made people very suspicious during my presidency.

Calvin

What was your most unique habit?

White Male Guest

I soaked my feet in a bucket of cold water every morning. I believed it kept me from catching a cold!

Calvin

What was your favorite food?

White Male Guest

I loved vegetables of all kinds, especially the "Love Apple"—which you call the tomato. Most people thought they were poisonous back then, but I grew them and ate them with delight!

Calvin

Did you have a favorite restaurant?

White Male Guest

Not a restaurant, but the fine tables of Paris changed my palate forever. I brought back a French chef to the White House!

Calvin

What was your favorite book?

White Male Guest

It is impossible to pick just one, but I often returned to the works of Epicurus and Isaac Newton.

Calvin

Did you have any known rivalries?

White Male Guest

Alexander Hamilton. We disagreed on nearly everything regarding how the government should work. Our debates were legendary and quite fierce.

Calvin

Tell us a story nobody talks about.

White Male Guest

I once spent a great deal of time and money trying to prove to a French scientist, the Comte de Buffon, that American animals were not smaller and weaker than European ones. I actually had a giant moose skin and antlers sent to him in Paris just to prove my point!

Calvin

What’s your funniest behind-the-scenes moment?

White Male Guest

As President, I used to answer the door of the White House in my slippers and work clothes. It used to shock the foreign diplomats who expected great ceremony!

Calvin

What advice would you give people chasing success?

White Male Guest

Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.

Calvin

Thomas, this has been an incredible journey through history. Before we sign off, do you have any closing remarks about the interview or the stories you shared that you would like to share with the listeners?

White Male Guest

Only this—that the flame of liberty must be tended by every generation. I am grateful for the chance to speak again, and I hope my words inspire you to keep learning and keep questioning. Thank you for your hospitality, Calvin!

Calvin

A huge thank you to Thomas Jefferson for joining us today. What a fascinating look at the man behind the monument. And that wraps up another conversation from beyond the grave. Thanks for joining us on The Headstones and Microphones Podcast. Remember—legends may die, but their stories never do. Please help spread the word by sharing and following the pod.