Follow up

(1) Describe Thomas Jefferson's Presidency; its successes and failures. 

     Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States of America. He became president after winning a highly contested election against Aaron Burr. They tied, but Jefferson was declared the president after thirty-six ballots when the Representatives broke the tie. This later culminated to a change in the voting system whereby a separate vote was to be taken for the president and the vice president. His presidency took effect from March 4, 1801 to March 4, 1809. His presidency carried out a revolution termed as the revolution of 1800 which had the objective of clearly putting into action the republican principles. This idea was endorsed by the republicans under the umbrella of Democratic-Republican Party. It's on record that Jefferson was strongly against federalists, in fact, in the domestic affairs, and he  eliminated federalists more in the judiciary. He thus succeeded in reducing the size of the government by the reduction of both taxes and national debt.

It's important to note that Thomas Jefferson served as vice president in the United States under John Adams. During this period, he stamped his authority and stopped the Alien and Sedition Acts. These Acts strictly halted the criticism of the government. Jefferson believed most of the criticisms were unconstitutional thus had to be stopped by all means. This was in accordance to the First Amendment. Jefferson wrote about the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions that gave power and absolute right to the state to nullify any federal law that the government did not have the right to make.

It is documented that Jefferson’s presidency had a major achievement and success for the people of America and to some extent to the world at large was the purchase of Louisiana Territory. The purchase was done from France in 1803 at a fee of $15 million.

This acquisition is adored because it significantly doubled the size of the United States. He commissioned William Clark and Meriwether Lewis to explore the land exhaustively and beyond. This was an expedition that effectively expanded United States and open ways to crucial information concerning the geography, American-Indian tribe, plants and animals life in the western part of the continent. This exploration is today honored and known as Corps of Discovery. Thomas Jefferson is also remembered for the peace deal he signed with Pasha. Before 1805, there was the Tripolitan war that targeted North African Barbary States. The war came about as a result of failure of American ships going through Tripoli's waters to pay tribute as demanded by the Tripoli. Jefferson initiated a peace agreement that halted the war in 1805 after convincing Pasha into signing a peace deal. This is documented as also very great success of Jefferson. This is because the war was very violent, and the American travelers plus the ships were endangering their lives if the war would have continued 

The peace agreement with Pasha did not go well with the United States government. During Jefferson's second administration, the congress passed the Embargo Act of 1807. This Act was to prohibit exports from United States strictly. This Act turned negatively on the United States economy. It was aimed at injuring the economy of Britain and France, but it never worked. It injured the economy of USA to the extent that it was repealed in 1809. Embargo Act was passed in order to retaliate for the attacks on US shipping. This was a failure to the US economy.

Jefferson also failed to get a conviction against treason committed by the vice president. This was a show of a weak presidency and one that could not stamp his authority to uphold the rule of law. When the vice president committed treason, it was prudent of Jefferson to subject him to justice by letting the law take its course unfortunately he failed terribly.  In conclusion, Jefferson is recorded as one president who saw nothing worth adoring in his presidency. According to him, his presidency had nothing that was fit to adorn his tombstone.

References

The Third US President - Thomas Jefferson. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/History/presidents/Presidents_3_Jefferson.htm

Thomas Jefferson - U.S. Presidents - HISTORY.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/thomas-jefferson

Thomas Jefferson | The White House. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/thomasjefferson