Thomas Jefferson's greatest impact on society came from his involvement in politics--as a writer and thinker, and as governor, congressman, ambassador, cabinet member, vice-president, and president. In this volume, editor Merrill D. Peterson has gleaned Jefferson's basic ideas on politics and produced a book containing the core of our third president's political thought. These ideas form a creed that still gives the United States of America a unique place in the history of nations and makes Jefferson one of the foremost advocates of human liberty.