[gleeaikin]

That whole history of combating piracy in the early 1800’s is fascinating. Adams urged Jefferson to pay tribute to the pirates. Jefferson refused. “Millions for defense, not one penny for tribute” was the slogan of the day. Young, heroic secret agents traveled over the desert from Egypt to where captives were held and staged daring rescues, etc. Jefferson in Paris urged europeans to unite to combat the piracy. It took a while before they responded. Thank goodness they are atually helping in Afghanistan.

[tanknetter]

That whole history of combating piracy in the early 1800’s is fascinating. Adams urged Jefferson to pay tribute to the pirates. Jefferson refused. “Millions for defense, not one penny for tribute” was the slogan of the day. Young, heroic secret agents traveled over the desert from Egypt to where captives were held and staged daring rescues, etc. Jefferson in Paris urged europeans to unite to combat the piracy. It took a while before they responded. Thank goodness they are atually helping in Afghanistan.

Truthfully, Jefferson was all over the friggin' map when it it came to piracy, and ended up being undeservedly credited with taking a strong stand thanks to being backed into several corners by his own aggressive commanders (thanks in large part to the communications issues back at the time).

If you're talking about William Eaton and the Marines moving on Tripoli specifically, you might want to read "The Pirate Coast" by Richard Zacks, which paints a less than flattering picture of Jefferson (and a probably overblown one of Eaton).