Thomas Jefferson (born Apr. 13, 1743) - very few things he asked others to do that he wasn't willing to do himself

Thomas Jefferson: "A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government."

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Thomas Jefferson, (Born April 13, 1743, at Shadwell, Virginia; died July 4, 1826, Monticello), author of the Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, third president of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia, considered as “the first cultured President” of the United States.

Jefferson once said: “Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.”

In his own life he stood by this statement, as he worked arduously to design his home in Charlottesville, Virginia. He included several of his inventions and innovations designed to make life easier, more convenient and to please his many guests. In fact, there were very few things he asked others to do that he wasn’t willing to do himself. He believed in leading by example –the first President to do so.

Jefferson’s hobby, and passion, was archeology – at a time when archeology was so young that it wasn’t even called a science. Many have said that Jefferson in many ways popularized and legitimized the “discipline.” For example, when he found an Indian burial mound on his Virginian estate, he made the unique approach of cutting a wedge deep into the mound so that he could visually explore each cross section and draw his own conclusions. The practice later became a standard in archeology, at a time when the common practice was to simply dig downwards and hope nothing was destroyed.

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Photos courtesy of Archiving Early America, appalachianconservative.wordpress.com, and Wikipedia

Original Source: american-presidents.com