Educational Resource
Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Territory
No measure of Thomas Jefferson’s presidential administration captured the public imagination, and no policy approach so significantly affected the character of the nation, as did the acquiring of the Louisiana Territory.1 Yet long before his presidency, Jefferson was keenly interested in the land to the west of the Mississippi River. For example, just after the Revolution, he had heard th
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Dressing Down for the Presidency
The new British minister to the United States was outraged. Within a few weeks of Minister Anthony Merry’s arrival in Washington, he was reporting to his foreign office in London what he perceived as breaches of diplomatic protocol, and topping his list of grievances were complaints regarding President Thomas Jefferson’s appearance. Merry had accompanied Secretary of State James Madi
