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Jefferson's destruction of the U.S. military led to the burning of Washington under his successor when the British invaded. He barely escaped impeachment as Governor of Virginia because of his lack of understanding of military matters and his incompetence in handling them.

His attempts to undermine Washington's foreign policies were just short (if that) of treason and led W. to cease speaking to him. After the flacks J. hired to run a republican newspaper started personal attacks on W. including calling him a thief W. no longer had any regard for him. After leaving office W. never again communicated with him.

The Jefferson of 1776 and his time in the Senate was not the same man as in 1801.

As far as his ideas being in accord with his times goes, I prefer a man who leads against Evil not one who temporizes and pretends to lead. Many of the founders hated slavery and worked to end it Jefferson pretended to but did nothing after the Northwest Ordinance and, in fact, provided the intellectual underpinning for the South's secession through the Ky. and Va. Resolutions and their theory of nullification. This was essentially denying the U.S. Constitution's role as the Law of the Land. Fortunately, he was out of the country while the Constitution was written and ratified or I feel sure he would have led the forces opposed to its acceptance perhaps to victory.

While by all accounts he was a kind master he freed none of his slaves after his death as did W. The only slaves he freed were his children by Sally Hemmings and those connected with her. I don't blame him for the affair with Hemmings since she was his wife's half sister (1/8th black) and he promised his wife on her death bed never to remarry.

The political rhetoric (and outright lies) his party used during the 1790s was little short of insanity. I suggest you research his policy towards the military and treachery towards the administration he served as Sec. of State before you accept the leftist view of him. He has been lionized by Leftist professors for almost two centuries.

His economic views were complete foolishness and, if implemented by the nation, would have left the U.S. too weak to resist dismemberment by the European empires on our borders. His bitter enmity towards one of our nation's true heroes, Alexander Hamilton, and the methods he used is a disgrace to his reputation. It is no accident that one of his greatest allies (and the man most responsible for his being president) killed H. then after doing J.'s dirty work he was in turn destroyed politically with J.'s help.

The real Jefferson is not the one spoken of in public. He is, however, the true founder of the DemocRATic party.