American Sphinx - Thomas Jefferson

I think I am done reading books by Joseph Ellis, he is just a bit to dry for me.  I did manage to read this book in less than a month so maybe it wasn't that bad. I don't recommend this book as a first look at Jefferson. This is more a book for someone obsessed with Jefferson who likes reading about the same topic over and over and knows so much that now they only want to read about the man's character. I think Ellis even got bored writing the book. He took us to Jefferson's first term and then referenced his death and then interspersed a few more life events with death references and then finally Jefferson's death. I probably should have read the wikipedia first so that I could have known the facts/resume part of Jefferson's life and then I might have enjoyed learning about his philosophy and character.

I am surprised that Ellis didn't seem to think that Jefferson matured or changed much as he aged. I find it hard to believe that someone who had experienced as much of the world as Jefferson wasn't also changed by it. Maybe this indicates a huge ego or a lack of introspection on Jefferson's part.

I would like to read about the Sally Hemming's affair. Jefferson freed at least one of her son's (can't quite remember who) but he didn't free Sally. Why? Was he an asshole? Did he think she wouldn't be taken care of if he set her free/abandoned her? Did she want to be free?

I did enjoy some of Jefferson's wacky ideas, like the idea that the government should be abolished every 20 years so a new generation could create the government that they wanted and be free of the older generations control.

I thought the last chapter of the book was the best chapter of the book. Ellis outlines Jefferson's accomplishments/failures and then talks about their relevancy in today's society.

I am looking forward to taking Bill to Monticello. I enjoyed visiting when I was a teenager and until reading all these biographies injured my admiration for Jefferson, I found comfort that he had a huge range of interests and talents like me and didn't seem to think he had to only be good at one thing but could study whatever caught his fancy.