The Michelle Smith Lecture Series
A Revolutionary Friendship: Washington, Jefferson, and the American Republic
By the time George Washington died in 1799, he and Thomas Jefferson were estranged. But for most of their thirty-year acquaintance they enjoyed a productive relationship. Because they shared so much, their disagreements have something important to teach us.
For instance: Whereas Washington believed in the rule of traditional elites, Jefferson preferred a meritocratic approach, by which elites were elected on the basis of education and skills. And while Washington emphasized a need for strong central government, Jefferson favored diffusion of power across the states. Cogliano argues that common convictions equally defined their relationship: a passion for American independence and republican government, as well as a commitment to westward expansion and the power of commerce. They also both evolved a skeptical view of slavery, eventually growing to question the institution.
What remains fascinating is that the differences between the two mirrored key political fissures of the early republic, as the unity of revolutionary zeal gave way to competing visions for the new nation. This book brilliantly captures the dramatic, challenging, and poignant reality that there was no single founding ideal—only compromise between friends and sometime rivals.
Francis D. Cogliano
Francis D. Cogliano is the interim Saunders Director of the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello. He is also Professor of American History at the University of Edinburgh where he serves as the University’s Dean International (North America). He received his B.A. in history from Tufts University and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in history from Boston University. He has taught at universities in the United States, England, and Scotland and has been a member of the History Department at the University of Edinburgh since 1997.