American patriot, member of the Continental Congress, author of the Declaration of Independence, Minister to France, Governor of Virginia, first Secretary of State, second Vice President, third President of the United States – as vice-president a dedicated opponent of the party in power; a brilliant intellectual, political philosopher, diplomat, statesman, inventor, renaissance man, revolutionary; enemy of tyranny wherever he saw it or more accurately, wherever he chose to see it.
A master of language fully appreciative of its power, and a deeply conflicted man whose grand vision of human freedom and equality finally faltered on the grounds of his self-designed mountaintop home – Dark shadows of doubt and disappointment gather around his legacy and memory.