The election of 1800 set two precedents
in American history. It was the first
election in which the press played a big
role, and for the first time in
presidential politics, power was
peacefully shifting from one political
party to another. In this highly
contentious election, the founding party
of the nation, the Federalists, had been
defeated and the popular leader of a new
political party was moving into the
White House. Thomas Jefferson was the
first president inaugurated in
Washington. On the day of his
inauguration, Thomas Jefferson walks to
the unfinished Capitol to deliver his
inaugural address. In one of the most
important statements ever made by a
president in any inaugural address, he
tells the assembled group, We are all
Federalists, we are all Republicans." But
Jefferson did not intend to follow the
Federalist model for the presidency.
Jefferson believes that his election was
virtually a second revolution.
He thought the government was going down
a very bad path under the Federalists. He
thought he'd saved it. Jefferson believed
the Federalists had put too much power
in the central government. He vowed to
reverse that. He was a remarkably casual
man, who sometimes greeted guests in his
slippers.
He was also eccentric and secretive. Such
was the self-styled character of Thomas
Jefferson. Jefferson viewed himself and
presented himself as a man of the people--
Somewhat ironic, again, because here is
Mr. Jefferson-- who lives in perhaps the
most elegant home in all of America--
Monticello.
He's hardly a man of the people, but on the
other hand he has this ability to
connect and to make this pretense to
make this image of this Democrat with a
small 'd.' To help spin this image,
Jefferson adopted a casual tone for
protocol and official behavior at the
president's mansion. It was said that if
you went through the White House,
quite often Mr. Jefferson himself would
open the door. Jefferson also ended the
formal state dinners established by
Washington and continued by Adams.
Instead, he hosted informal supper
parties where guests could sit anywhere
they pleased. Even at the same time that
Jefferson is symbolically downgrading
the office, he is using it very
effectively and he calls the tune.
President Jefferson was a quiet but
effective manager who preferred working
in the privacy of his office than in the
public eye. He does not give his annual
messages to Congress as speeches in
person. He doesn't do that, he sends them
written messages instead. He did not like
to give public addresses, he was not a
good public speaker. He had a very, very
soft voice apparently, but he was
definitely a brilliant and cunning
politician.
