Thomas Jefferson

Birth-Death: (1743 - 1826 ) Term: (1801-1809 )

President Jefferson believed that the future of America lay in the farmers and common people who lived and cultivated the land. Therefore, in order to ensure the future of the United States, he was willing to step outside his personal feelings of strict interpretation of the Constitution, and purchase the Louisiana Territory from Napoleon of France. He then sent Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to explore this new territory, plus lands farther west.

Administration of Thomas Jefferson

Vice Presidents

Aaron Burr (1801-05)
George Clinton (1805-09)

Secretary of State

James Madison (1801-1809)

Secretary of the Treasury

Samuel Dexter (1801)
Albert Gallatin (1801-09)

Secretary of War

Henry Dearborn (1801-1809)

Attorney General

Levi Lincoln (1801-04)
John Breckinridge (1805-06)
Caesar A. Rodney (1807-09)

Secretary of the Navy

Benjamin Stoddert (1801)
Robert Smith (1801-09)