Thomas Jefferson Facts

Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States of America, was one of the most intriguing figures of his era. Find out a bit more about him, with our interesting fact collection!

• Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 in Albemarle County, Virginia.

• The White House was called the Presidential Mansion at the time when he lived there.

• During his term of presidency he worked persistently to keep the United States out of the French Napoleonic Wars.
  

  “The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.” – Jefferson

• He wrote the draft copy of the Declaration of Independence, which was edited by the committee. 75% of the text remained unedited.

• Jefferson helped create the human Bill of Rights to add to the Constitution of the United States.

• Thomas Jefferson designed and began the University of Virginia.

• His biggest political move was buying the Louisiana Territory called “The Louisiana Purchase”.

• Our third President loved food and wine. In fact, one of the reasons for his debt was due to his love of wine.

• The U.S. Congress purchased Jefferson’s book collection in order to help him get out of debt.

• Thomas Jefferson’s portrait has been printed on the two dollar bill since 1862.

• The President had been ambassador to France, and he brought French cuisine to the United States.

• He died on the same day and within a few hours of John Adams on the 4th July, 1826.

• He wrote his own epitaph for his tombstone. On it he listed what he considered his major accomplishments. He did not include becoming president of the United States.