Monticello – Home of America’s Third President

Our parents had taken my sisters and me to visit Thomas Jefferson’s home as children. I can remember being most mesmerized by the dumbwaiter that transported food and wine to the dining room. What can I say? I was probably about seven!

I later enjoyed taking my own children to visit this monument in American history. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) designed and built it, and it’s easy to see why loved it there.

I never fail to appreciate the impact Jefferson’s great intellect had on our country’s founding. He left his impact in his roles as Founding Father, delegate to both the Virginia General Assembly and Congress, governor of Virginia, philosopher, diplomat to France, our second Vice President and President from 1801-1809. His contributions to the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution were foundational pillars for a fledgling nation that would quickly become a global superpower.

The epitaph he wrote for his own tombstone, located there on Monticello's grounds, reflects what he felt were his life's most significant achievements: "Author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom and Father of the University of Virginia."