Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 in Albemarle County, Virginia. Jefferson was the third President of United States. His father was a planter and surveyor. Jefferson inherited some 5000 acres of land and a high social standing. In 1772 he married a widow Martha Wayles Skelton. As the "silent member" of the Congress, Jefferson, at 33, drafted the Declaration of Independence.
In 1796 as a candidate for President, Jefferson came within three votes of election. Through a flaw in the Constitution, he became Vice President. In 1801 he became the 3rd elected President. When Jefferson assumed the Presidency, the crisis in France had passed and War time was over. He slashed Army and Navy expenditures.

During Jefferson's second term, he was increasingly preoccupied with keeping the Nation from involvement in the Napoleonic wars. Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826 in Monticello in Virginia.