Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power

By: Jon Meacham

Narrated by: Edward Herrmann, Jon Meacham

Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • The Washington Post • Entertainment Weekly • The Seattle Times • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • Bloomberg Businessweek

In this magnificent biography, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion and Franklin and Winston brings vividly to life an extraordinary man and his remarkable times. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power gives us Jefferson the politician and president, a great and complex human being forever engaged in the wars of his era. Philosophers think; politicians maneuver. Jefferson’s genius was that he was both and could do both, often simultaneously. Such is the art of power. Thomas Jefferson hated confrontation, and yet his understanding of power and of human nature enabled him to move men and to marshal ideas, to learn from his mistakes, and to prevail. Passionate about many things—women, his family, books, science, architecture, gardens, friends, Monticello, and Paris—Jefferson loved America most, and he strove over and over again, despite fierce opposition, to realize his vision: the creation, survival, and success of popular government in America. Jon Meacham lets us see Jefferson’s world as Jefferson himself saw it, and to appreciate how Jefferson found the means to endure and win in the face of rife partisan division, economic uncertainty, and external threat. Drawing on archives in the United States, England, and France, as well as unpublished Jefferson presidential papers, Meacham presents Jefferson as the most successful political leader of the early republic, and perhaps in all of American history.

The father of the ideal of individual liberty, of the Louisiana Purchase, of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and of the settling of the West, Jefferson recognized that the genius of humanity—and the genius of the new nation—lay in the possibility of progress, of discovering the undiscovered and seeking the unknown. From the writing of the Declaration of Independence to elegant dinners in Paris and in the President’s House; from political maneuverings in the boardinghouses and legislative halls of Philadelphia and New York to the infant capital on the Potomac; from his complicated life at Monticello, his breathtaking house and plantation in Virginia, to the creation of the University of Virginia, Jefferson was central to the age. Here too is the personal Jefferson, a man of appetite, sensuality, and passion.

The Jefferson story resonates today not least because he led his nation through ferocious partisanship and cultural warfare amid economic change and external threats, and also because he embodies an eternal drama, the struggle of the leadership of a nation to achieve greatness in a difficult and confounding world.

Praise for Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power

“This is probably the best single-volume biography of Jefferson ever written.”—Gordon S. Wood

“A big, grand, absorbing exploration of not just Jefferson and his role in history but also Jefferson the man, humanized as never before.”—Entertainment Weekly

“[Meacham] captures who Jefferson was, not just as a statesman but as a man. . . . By the end of the book . . . the reader is likely to feel as if he is losing a dear friend. . . . [An] absorbing tale.”—The Christian Science Monitor

“This terrific book allows us to see the political genius of Thomas Jefferson better than we have ever seen it before. In these endlessly fascinating pages, Jefferson emerges with such vitality that it seems as if he might still be alive today.”—Doris Kearns Goodwin

©2012 Jon Meacham (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"A true triumph. In addition to being a brilliant biography, this book is a guide to the use of power. Jon Meacham shows how Jefferson's deft ability to compromise and improvise made him a transformational leader. We think of Jefferson as the embodiment of noble ideals, as he was, but Meacham shows that he was a practical politician more than a moral theorist. The result is a fascinating look at how Jefferson wielded his driving desire for power and control." (Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs)

"This is probably the best single-volume biography of Jefferson ever written; it is certainly the most readable." (Gordon Wood, author of The Radicalism of the American Revolution)

“Jon Meacham resolves the bundle of contradictions that was Thomas Jefferson by probing his love of progress and thirst for power. Here was a man endlessly, artfully intent on making the world something it had not been before. A thrilling and affecting portrait of our first philosopher-politician.” (Stacy Schiff, author of Cleopatra: A Life)

Enlightenment and philosophy @politics

This man changed the course of history with reason and great innovations. With all his good and wrong, he was one of a kind, a model to follow. How important is to read and seek always for improvent in all personal and public matters, as he did.

Excellent narrative!

This book provides a fair portrait of a great man. Jefferson’s multi-faceted life is told in an interesting way that allows the reader to better understand who Jefferson was and what he valued.

Very good history, but hard to read.

What made the experience of listening to Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power the most enjoyable?

It was very full of facts, some of which made the reading difficult.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power?

It has made me want to learn more about the early history of the country.

great book and authentic interpretation

one of the best Jefferson books around. his interpretation of jefferson documents is spot on. read well.

Expansive, Insightful, and Well Performed

What made the experience of listening to Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power the most enjoyable?

I've been wanting a good Jefferson biography, and this delivered big time. It covers his entire life, and also goes in depth about the politics of the era.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I mean, I guess TJ, right? It's his story.

Which scene was your favorite?

The section covering Jefferson's time as president was definitely the most interesting, simply because of how essential that era was to both the nation and Jefferson.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Doesn't really apply here.

Any additional comments?

I have not read another Jefferson bio, so I suppose I can't say with authority that this is the best or most insightful. But as someone who was eager to learn more about the man and the era, this was a great choice.

Fantastic book

Great book with great in site of a great man in helping of founding of great nation USA and guiding direction in a needed time of our nation must read

A Classic in American History.

Jon Meacham has produced a phenomenal work - I highly recommend it. I believe this is the best work on Jefferson that has been produced. He takes into account all of his strengths and flaws presents him as human.

Great biography of a complex life

Meacham does a great job covering a complex mountain of a life and honestly communicating the good and the bad that was Jefferson.

Entertaining introduction to Jefferson

This book is short: 18 hours is a whistlestop tour, at best, for such a full life. If you have already read McCullough's Adams and Chernow's Hamilton, you will already have as much of the political mind of Jefferson as may be gleaned here. And yet, Meacham pens a quite delightful and engaging tale that serves well as an introduction to the sage of Monticello. The author's easy style is communicated to perfection (as always) by Edward Herrmann.

Continuously entertaining

I’ll echo historian and scholar Gordon Wood. Single best volume on Jefferson. Qualitatively definitive. I just wish there was more of it. I could have listened 50 more hours of it. I suggest speeding the listen to at least 2x and feel the narrative propel you forward. I like how Meacham’s treatment is laudatory while remaining fair. Not unnecessarily critical of a fellow being. Forgiving yet with full disclosure. Humane and without the self righteous indignation so common. Considerate though not condoning. At times burning at the edges with recognition of a bright genius and yet unbiased. Not to say uninterested. The subject never runs away in his hands or is obscured by the backdrop of his time and place. Jefferson stands tall within his own historical reality and still clearly belonging to the Age of Enlightenment, the time of intellectual upheaval and material revolution. Placed in chess piece fashion. Always on a specific square and in his particular space. Somehow always remaining in his way enigmatic. An unbiased approach indeed.