Understanding Thomas Jefferson

Dr. Annette Gordon-Reed and Dr. Peter Onuf 
Co-Authors, "The Most Blessed of Patriarchs: The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson" 

This Constitution Day presentation features two world-renowned Thomas Jefferson scholars who are in the process of co-writing a book, “The Most Blessed of Patriarchs: The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson.” Dr. Gordon-Reed and Dr. Onuf present Jefferson in ways that do not fall into a one-sided approach of either condemning or celebrating him. The authors explain that their book focuses on what they believe is a pivitol time for Jefferson – his years in Paris, from 1784 to 1789, as U.S. Minister to France. Dr. Gordon-Reed received the Pulitzer Prize for History for her book about the “second family” Jefferson had with his slave, Sally Hemings, “Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy.” She explains that the goal of the book she is writing with Dr. Onuf is to bring Jefferson’s public and private lives together. 

Recorded: September 22, 2014