How Did Thomas Jefferson Affect The Office Of The President

Introduction: The writer of the Declaration of independence Thomas Jefferson didn’t think that in another 30 years from the time he written the Declaration of Independence he would actually be elected as the 3rd president of the United States. He grew up in Virginia with a wealthy family his father already coming from wealth. In his following years, he was sent to boarding school and attended the William and Mary college in Virginia1. The persistency of school for Jefferson did him well in his adult years when others alike gave Jefferson tremendous amount of credit for having knowledge that was made for government1. Personally, Jefferson was a shy and quiet person and, in his meantime, built and enjoyed the Monticello. He discovered the University

Under the Adams administration, he passed the Sedition and Alien Act bill in 1, which Jefferson thought to be contradiction to the first amendments. in order to punish the public who do not agree with his federal policies and talked against his administration. (onuf) . Those that were prosecuted were under federal court. As soon as Jefferson was able to, he heavily persuading and convincing Congress to dispose of the Sedition and Alien Act. However, before it was finalized Jefferson had already took action to liberate those that were locked up under these legislations.
Unlike Washington and Adams, Jefferson aimed to have “harmony” and “unanimity” in his cabinet (Gideon Granger). In belief, Jefferson knew in order to have a strong presidential role his cabinet would need to learn and know how to work with one another. He understood that a strong foundation within the government for strong and united cabinet. He did not want the beliefs of both parties to affect the duties of each party in government. Washington stressed the importance of the chief to occupy a position apart from and above the people (johnstone). He did not want to be seen as to high but enough to preserve the formality of the

However in his inaugural address, he stated, “( ). On several occasions Jefferson stated that his “interpretations” will be used in cases that are not clearly stated in the constitution. And in this case, he made many executive decisions based on these ideas. In situations dealing out of seas Jefferson interpreted that it “would be in his best case to handle it” and if Congress disagrees with him then they can propose an amendment to confer the constitutionality of it.
When it came to foreign relations we can see a more “determined” attitude when it comes to his use of executive power. Jefferson’s time during secretary of state he made an assertion that foreign relations are “executive altogether” (Jefferson). In Locke’s Second Treatise in Government, he states that, “the executive is looking at everything even laws passed by the legislation”. Jefferson uses this as he interprets the Constitution based of legitimacy of action.
It became difficult to know what Jefferson’s thought on executive power because at times he showed indifference and other times he showed extreme interest in taking executive action in places that the Constitution leaves