Thomas Jefferson was the primary draftsman of the Declaration of Independence of the United States and the nation’s first secretary of state (1789–94), its second vice president (1797–1801), and, as the third president (1801–09), the statesman responsible for the Louisiana Purchase.

The character traits of President Thomas Jefferson can be described as quiet, easy going, curious, highly intelligent, open and direct. It has been speculated that the Myers-Briggs personality type for Thomas Jefferson is an would be INTJ (introversion, intuition, thinking, judgment).

As the third president of the United States, Jefferson stabilized the U.S. economy and defeated pirates from North Africa during the Barbary War. He was responsible for doubling the size of the United States by successfully brokering the Louisiana Purchase. He also founded the University of Virginia.

Most notably credited for authoring the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson is also responsible for purchasing nearly the entire central United States through the Louisiana Purchase. Following that accomplishment, he oversaw the Lewis and Clark Exploration, to map and understand the newest addition of territory.

Thomas Jefferson was a strong supporter of allowing all people: the common man, the wealthy, and even slaves to be treated equally. He wrote the Declaration of Independence, fought for a U.S. Bill of Rights, and advocated for an amendment to end slavery.

He was a man of many talents–an architect, an inventor, a scientist, and a collector of books and artifacts of American history. He could read more than five languages and was the U.S. minister to France for several years.

Indeed, one of his themes is that, for good and bad, Jefferson was a man of his times and his culture. Jefferson’s biggest flaw, of course, was his failure to fight slavery.

Jefferson’s most fundamental political belief was an “absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority.” Stemming from his deep optimism in human reason, Jefferson believed that the will of the people, expressed through elections, provided the most appropriate guidance for directing the republic’s course.

In political theory, or political philosophy, John Locke refuted the theory of the divine right of kings and argued that all persons are endowed with natural rights to life, liberty, and property and that rulers who fail to protect those rights may be removed by the people, by force if necessary.

The English philosopher and political theorist John Locke (1632-1704) laid much of the groundwork for the Enlightenment and made central contributions to the development of liberalism. Trained in medicine, he was a key advocate of the empirical approaches of the Scientific Revolution.