Jon Meacham

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Jackson lead as he lived, sometimes with his heart, sometimes with his mind, sometimes with both

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As much as Jefferson loved France residence abroad gave him greater appreciation for his own nation. He was a tireless advocate for things American while abroad, and a promoter of things European while at home. Moving between two worlds, translating the best of the old into the new and explaining the benefits of the new to the old, he created a role for himself as both intermediary and arbiter

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Steadiness of faith, was, in the long run, as illuminating and essential as sophistication of thought

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For Jefferson, William and Mary was largely about what university life is supposed to be about: reading books, enjoying the company of like-minded, and savoring teachers who seemed to be ambassadors from other, richer, writer worlds. Jefferson believed Williamsburg "the finest school of manners and morals that ever existed in America

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Politics was at once clinical and human, driven by principles and passions that he (the leader) had to master and harness for the good of the whole