Thomas Jefferson

noun

3rd President of the United States; chief drafter of the Declaration of Independence; made the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and sent out the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore it (1743-1826)

• Syn: ↑Jefferson, ↑President Jefferson

• Derivationally related forms: ↑Jeffersonian (for: ↑Jefferson)

• Instance Hypernyms: ↑President of the United States, ↑United States President, ↑President, ↑Chief Executive

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Thomas Jefferson [Thomas Jefferson]

(1743–1826) the third US ↑President (1801–9) and one of the nation’s Founding Fathers. He wrote most of the ↑Declaration of Independence but was opposed to a strong central government. As president, he supported the ↑Louisiana Purchase and the ↑Lewis and Clark Expedition. Jefferson helped design Washington, DC, and was the first president to have his ↑Inauguration Day there. He was also ↑governor of ↑Virginia (1779–81) and US Secretary of State (1789–93). He established the University of Virginia (1819) and designed its buildings. He died, like John ↑Adams, on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.