Thomas Jefferson and His Time, Volume 4

The President, First Term, 1801-1805

By: Dumas Malone

Narrated by: Anna Fields

Length: 18 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

The fourth volume of this Pulitzer Prize-winning biography vividly recounts Jefferson's eventful first presidential term. Though characterized by calmer seas than his second presidential voyage, Jefferson's first years in office find him confronting a nation deeply divided following the administrations of Washington and Adams, and many subsequent conflicts. He acquires the vast territory of Louisiana for the United States, challenges the growing power of the federal judiciary, and continues to press his opposition to the Hamiltonian doctrine of an overriding central government. He also assumes the unchallenged leadership of his party and is universally acknowledged as the preeminent American patron of science and general learning.

Founding father: listen to the rest of the titles in the Thomas Jefferson and His Time series:

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 5

Volume 6

©1970 Dumas Malone (P)1998 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

• Pulitzer Prize winner for history, 1975

"This is the best so far of an already superbly distinguished series which will constitute when finished one of the finest historical biographies of our time." (New York Review of Books)
"In the grand design of Mr. Malone's comprehensive biography, the present volume maintains the magnificent quality of the preceding ones and in one sense outstrips them by fulfilling an urgent need in American scholarship....Henceforth, no one will dare to pronounce on any aspect of it, without having studied closely this [biography] of a great president by a great historian." (New York Times Book Review)

Audio skipping problems

In the latter part of the book, there are frequent skips where the audio was apparently imported from a scratched CD.

Classic work, so-so reading

The work is probably the definitive biography of Thomas Jefferson. It's hard to imagine one more complete or better executed and is a real joy to read. Some reviews on this state that Malone is "pro-Jefferson" and biased towards him. Certainly, Malone is admires Jefferson (I can't imagine spending so many years on one man and not feeling some attachment to him), but he always seems objective regarding the facts in any given controversy and doesn't spare TJ any criticism when warranted. On the other hand, TJ made many enemies over his lifetime and these made numerous claims without necessarily being based in facts. Malone examines each with care and reason. The recording is dated in the late-1990s and was originally on cassette tapes. This is known because there is an occasional slip as she announces the beginning of a new tape from time to time. There are some technical problems and I recall these being mainly in the 1st and 5th volumes. On the whole, they aren't a big deal. Her tone is a bit wry for my taste but she gets the job done (the big, big job).

A Good Account

I have had the full set of these biographies of Jefferson by Malone on my shelves for years. I’ve read a couple but not yet the volumes on his Presidency.

Now the first is complete, and I’ll proceed to the second.

I give this volume on the first term a good, but not great, grade. It does cover the main topics and with reasonable and accurate breadth and scope. Yet, it’s a bit shallow, and it leans toward Jefferson on all controversial matters. I would have liked greater objectivity.

Nevertheless, it was quite satisfactory, and it added to my knowledge and understanding.

The reading was skilled and competent.

The Constitution did not cover everything

Could the United States expand? If so, what would be the status of the people living there? Was the Louisana Purchase legal? How precise were territorial boundaries defined? What can be done about crooked federal judges? And politics, politics, politics. Jefferson dealt with it all. The issues are clearly explained, so one leaves with the understanding that none were simple, nor were their solutions.

Hey Audible, this recording skips throughout!

Great book, as all parts of this series are. Deals with the first presidency and Jeffersons live during that time. Interestingly, Malone addresses the Hemings relation in Appendix II, likely coinciding with the popularity gained by the accusation of TJ fathering multiple Hemings children gaining traction about the time this was to be published, however he deviates from the theory strongly presented by Fawn Brodie in her groundbreaking work and suggests either Peter or Sam Carr had the relation with Sally, which is not the current consensus of Jefferson scholars based on the 1998 Fields DNA test. Readers would be best informed by following this series with a more modern effort by scholars like Annette Gordon-Reed, Peter Onuf, or Andrew Jackson O'Shaunesy (all of whom have addressed it and all of whom work with or for The Thomas Jefferaon Foundation, the operator of Monticello and The Jefferson Library, located just off the Monticello campus).

The only problem with this volume is simply that the recording skips every so often, leaving a few words out of the sentence as if your book had the edge of some pages clipped off. This is very frustrating to have happen when pursuing a 3300+ page work 4/6 of the way through the series, and even more so when one purchased the recording but did not receive the entirety of it... like a steak dinner at the favorite restaurant served with a bite taken out of it.

Thomas Jefferson and his time

The worst book on jefferson I ever listened to. The author repeats himself more than ten times on a verity of boring subjects. Beating my head on a wall would be an improvement on reading this dull uninspired trivial work on a great very intresting man.