Hofstadter's Thomas Jefferson: A Visionary of Questionable Merit Jack Tatirosian 11th Grade

In the book The American Political Tradition, by Hofstadter, Jefferson, in the opinion of the author, is an extremely complex man. Jefferson is usually thought to be an incredibly important and well respected figure in American history, but in the way that Hofstadter explains it, over time Jefferson has been highly overdramatized and is much less the person that he is commonly said to be. Hofstadter claims that Jefferson was a massive hypocrite, as his ideals are completely contradictory to his actions a large amount of the times. To put Hofstadter’s opinions of Jefferson together; Jefferson is not the man he is ordinarily portrayed as, but rather a hypocrite who’s place in American history has been existentially exaggerated.

Hofstadter in his book claims that Jefferson was quite the hypocrite, as his ideals were largely contradictory to how he actually lived his life. Jefferson wanted the United States to be a Meritocracy, a place in which the skilled worksman were the top class. As Jefferson wanted a Meritocracy, Jefferson still was in full support of the people of whom he surrounded himself with, the wealthy, upper-class politicians of the United States. According to Hofstadter, “Under his leadership the Virginia reformers...