By Kent Moreno:

There are very few individuals in American history who are as brilliant, complex, or contradictory as Thomas Jefferson. In 1962, when President Kennedy hosted forty-nine Nobel Prize winners in the White House, he was quoted as saying "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent and of human knowledge that has ever been gathered together at the White House – with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." Having read extensively on John Adams and Abraham Lincoln, I can tell you with no hesitation or doubt that in 2009, both would have been Democrats.  To get to the real Thomas Jefferson takes a little more digging. As a farmer Jefferson believed that there were few things as honorable as working the earth and he had a strong reverence for nature. Jefferson believed in an agrarian society and the nobility of the yeoman farmer.  During Jefferson’s lifetime, rural life required a high degree of interdependence such as neighbors looking out for and helping one another. Such practices were essential for survival. A core concept in Jefferson’s belief system was “civic virtue” and it was the rural dwelling yeoman farmer that best exemplified this principle. Jefferson was highly mistrustful of corporations. He believed that financiers, bankers and industrialists made cities dens of iniquity and that their corrupting influences should be avoided at all costs. At the heart of Jefferson’s political philosophy was the belief that first and foremost that government policy should benefit the yeoman farmer, the average guy on the street of his day.
 

With regard to government, Jefferson saw the federal government as a necessary evil whose purpose was for the benefit, protection, and defense of the people, community, and country. In 2009 Thomas Jefferson would have been deeply troubled by the political power yielded by modern day corporations and the strong alliance held by the Republican Party with them. In the area of religion, Jefferson was fairly radical. His belief system most closely mirrors Unitarianism or deism (there’s a God but not necessarily the Christian God). He is famous for cutting out of the New Testament all references to the miracles performed by Jesus, thereby focusing solely on the principles he taught. In this manner, Jefferson saw Jesus as a moral philosopher rather than the Son of God. Jefferson fervently believed in the separation of church and state. It was in fact Jefferson who coined the phrase “separation of church and state.” In Virginia, Jefferson and James Madison successfully fought against the state funding of churches. As a scientist, Jefferson would have had no problem accepting the theory of evolution and would have been dismissive of those who advocated the teaching of creationism in schools. As my counterpart will no doubt argue, during the Quasi War with France it was Jefferson who asserted state’s rights in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts. However some of Jefferson’s policies also helped to strengthen the federal government. Jefferson was a pragmatist. This helps explain some of his contradictions. While Jefferson might have embraced the idea of small government during his lifetime, be believed in a government “of the people, by the people and for the people.” In the 20th and 21st centuries, Jefferson would have accepted the necessity of “active government” in order to protect and promote the interests of working class Americans, our present day yeoman farmer, over corporate interests.
 

Socially, for his time, Jefferson was extremely progressive. As a member of the House of Burgesses, Jefferson unsuccessfully sought to outlaw slavery. Jefferson again attempted without success to end slavery as part of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson on several occasions voiced his admiration of Native Americans. In the 1960’s Jefferson would have been a strong supporter of the Civil Rights movement and would have marched with Dr. King without hesitation. Jefferson believed in the limiting of military power and advocated the use of diplomacy and economic coercion such as an embargo in order to effect change. As a result of Jefferson’s strong belief in the use of diplomacy and economic embargo, he would have been highly critical of the Bush administration’s invasion of Iraq. Given the broad consensus by the world’s scientific community that global warming is a scientific reality Jefferson, as a man of science with a deep appreciation of working in the earth and nature, would have rejected a political doctrine, which denied the existence of global warming or put corporate interests ahead of protecting the environment. Given the values and concepts that were most important to Thomas Jefferson, I believe that if he were alive today, Thomas Jefferson would very much resemble Jimmy Carter in his post presidential years. Former President Carter’s charitable work with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and his embracing of diplomatic means to resolve world conflicts would have resonated deeply with Jefferson. For these and many other
reasons, it is my sincere belief that if Thomas Jefferson were alive today, he would be a Democrat with strong libertarian tendencies regarding individual freedoms.
 

A final note on Jefferson, we are fairly certain he had Asperger’s Syndrome. Asperger’s Syndrome is one of the three diagnoses included under the heading of autism spectrum disorders. For more informationcheck out “Diagnosing Jefferson” by Norm Ledgin.
 

By Stephen Smoot:

Two hundred and thirty three years ago a silent figure completed what was considered at the time the least important aspect of America’s separation from the British Empire. Thomas Jefferson accepted this task and turned what could have been a forgettable document into a definition of American ideals. His editors and fellow members of the Declaration committee, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, recognized the enormity of the statement that lay before them. They carefully added here and sliced away there, but did not alter the Jeffersonian soul of the document which remains a vital part of the spirit of America. At its core the Declaration of Independence, product of the philosophy of Thomas Jefferson on America’s most important day, emphasized the true and limited role of government. Much of this philosophy remains the most important part of the American conservative movement. Borrowing from English political ideals and his friend George Mason, Jefferson wrote the immortal phrase that the rights of mankind are “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” “Pursuit of happiness” referred to Section I of Mason’s *Virginia Declaration of Rights*, which claims that governments cannot infringe upon the right to acquire and possess property or prevent the pursuit of happiness and safety. How does this immortal statement relate to modern conservatism? Each innocent individual has the right to live. What group is more vulnerable to malevolent designs than an unborn child? How can the
life of a person who has done no wrong in the sight of God or the state be disposed of unceremoniously? The ideals of liberty refer to centuries of English tradition including the *Magna Carta*, *Petition of Right*, *English Bill of Rights*, and other acts of the Crown and Parliament.

These liberties, many of which date back to the High Middle Ages, include that of trial by jury, representative government, rights of accused citizens, the right (and obligation!) to bear arms, freedom of speech, and many other rights pertaining to economic and political freedoms. Every
government has the responsibility to protect life and to not infringe upon liberty. The broadly stated right to pursue property echoed a major grievance that Americans held against Great Britain. British mercantilist policies had interwoven the interests of the Crown with some of that Empire’s largest corporations, such as the British East India company. Naturally anyone in
competition with such firms worked against the power of both the public and private sector. Such intimate relations also provided a fertile field for corruption. Americans always emerged at a disadvantage against such a stacked deck. Possession of property was also considered an important freedom. The *Petition of Right* specifically argued that all Englishmen enjoyed the right to keep and use their property except under due process of law.

Overtaxation infringes upon the right to enjoy property and expands the government into a Leviathan. Jefferson was no great friend of financiers, but he supported slicing away “unnecessary” government offices and programs to reduce the burden of taxes. Late in life he lamented in a letter that public extravagance tended to destroy private fortunes.  Jefferson did advocate a graduated tax on wealth, but only enough to pay for a very small federal establishment with limited powers to poke its nose into our daily lives. Taxing certain items to promote an agenda such as health, Jefferson condemned as a “tyranny.” One would wonder what he would think of the cap and trade National Energy Tax which is not meant for revenue, but behavior modification. He would also argue with America imposing restrictions on its own prosperity. Jefferson promoted the development of western Virginia in his *Notes on the State of Virginia*. He enthusiastically described deposits of lead, coal, iron, salt and other riches. Jefferson and others such as Patrick Henry produced plans to improve the western river system to enhance people’s ability to make money off their property.
 

Zoning laws also infringe upon the ancient right to property. Fascist economists figured out decades ago that heavily regulating property use creates the reality of government control while maintaining the fiction of private ownership. Certainly the tendency of counties within shouting distance of here to appoint myriad officials to police unending property restrictions would fall under Jefferson’s warning about “unnecessary” officials that need removed from the system. To Jefferson freedom was a zero sum game, meaning that the more authority you grant to government, the less freedom each individual enjoys and the farther we get from the Declaration’s founding principles.

Jefferson does have a reputation as a military minimalist, but when tested showed the world that yes, America will fight. When the North African Barbary Pirates launched the first War on Terror, Jefferson didn’t apologize, he did not seek to figure out their needs, and he did not negotiate. Jefferson replied not with diplomats, but with the battle tested United States Navy and Marine Corps who eventually annihilated resistance on “the shores of Tripoli.” Certainly he is not a tight fit with modern conservatism, but what thinking individual completely conforms to any ideology? Jefferson is close enough to modern conservatism to make many Jefferson Day Dinner attendees feel awkward when they truly consider his ideals.