Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
President of the United States

JEFFERSON, Thomas, (father-in-law of Thomas Mann Randolph and John Wayles Eppes), a Delegate from Virginia and a Vice President and 3d President of the United States; born at 'Shadwell,' Va., in present-day Albemarle County, Va., on April 13 (Gregorian calendar), 1743; attended a preparatory school; graduated from William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Va., in 1762; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in 1767; member, colonial House of Burgesses 1769-1775; prominent in pre-Revolutionary movements; Member of the Continental Congress in 1775 and 1776; chairman of the committee that drew up the Declaration of Independence in the summer of 1776 and made the first draft; signer of the Declaration of Independence; resigned soon after and returned to his estate, 'Monticello'; Governor of Virginia 1779-1781; member, State house of delegates 1782; again a Member of the Continental Congress 1783-1784; appointed a Minister Plenipotentiary to France in 1784, and then sole Minister to the King of France in 1785, for three years; Secretary of State of the United States in the Cabinet of President George Washington 1789-1793; elected Vice President of the United States and served under President John Adams 1797-1801; elected President of the United States in 1801 by the House of Representatives on the thirty-sixth ballot; reelected in 1805 and served from March 4, 1801, to March 3, 1809; retired to his estate, 'Monticello,' in Virginia; active in founding the University of Virginia at Charlottesville; died at 'Monticello,' Albemarle County, Va., July 4, 1826; interment in the grounds of 'Monticello.'

Bio. Source: US Congressional Archives
Portrait, Hall of Presidents, National Portrait Gallery
Official White House Web Site on Jefferson
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