Word: jefferson
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Washington, Franklin, Madison -- when Thomas Jefferson, then serving as Minister to Paris, read the names of all those worthies reported gathering in Philadelphia, he called them "an assembly of demigods." They were something less than that, of course, but they were nonetheless an unusually admirable lot, experienced, educated, patriotic, dedicated. And though they displayed powerful individual differences in both philosophy and temperament, they showed important similarities too. Of the 55 delegates from twelve states (Rhode Island refused to participate), more than half were lawyers and eight were judges; another quarter were large landowners. All of them had held public office...
Many of the delegates expected Washington's fellow Virginians to provide direction. In the absence of Jefferson, the state's intellectual leadership inevitably came from "Jemmy" Madison, who was to become "the Father of the Constitution." He was shy and soft-spoken, a slender bachelor about 5 ft. 6 in. tall, and, according to one account, "no bigger than a half a piece of soap." His father was a wealthy landowner (and slaveholder), and Madison never had to work for a living. He studied philosophy at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton), became an early supporter of the Revolution...
...nation to battle, gave Congress sole power to declare war. But they recognized that unity of command was essential, and so made the President Commander in Chief, thus giving him at least potential authority to order troops into situations where war might become inevitable. As early as 1801, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were disputing the division of power. President Jefferson told Congress that without a declaration of war, he could order only defensive action, even against enemy attack. No, said Hamilton, an attack on U.S. forces creates a state of war and makes "any declaration on the part...
Moreover, while some say overseers power has declined, they add that it need not be enlarged. "Their role is not really a role of power, but it's a role of providing information and advice," says former Overseer T. Jefferson Coolidge '54, a local financier. "In terms of the original intent of the overseers, they don't have enough power to do the original job, but they probably have all the power they can handle given the limited time they have...
...thinking that the racism of a sheriff in Jefferson Parish does not outshine the bigotry of some Boston schools or of the men and women of Elmwood, Philadelphia. And being here in Boston has taught me of the ease with which people dismiss the racism in their midst by focusing on more glaring evils elsewhere...