Political philosopher Thomas Jefferson was the third U.S. president. He is credited as the primary author of the Declaration of Independence and was the founder of what would become the modern-day Democratic Party.

Dr. Merrill D. Peterson, author of 'The Jefferson Image in the American Mind' (1960) and 'Jefferson and the New Nation' (1970) said of Jefferson, "More than any of his great contemporaries, Jefferson had given form to the ideas, the values, even the dilemmas of the new nation, and thus involved himself with its destiny." [1] <ref>

1. 1776: Drafted the Declaration of Independence
2. 1779-81: 2nd Governor of Virginia
3. 1789-93: 1st U.S. Secretary of State
4. 1797-1801: 2nd U.S. Vice President
5. 1801-1809: 3rd U.S. President
6. 1819: Founded the University of Virginia
7. 1803: Louisiana Purchase
8. 1804-06: Commissioned the Lewis and Clark Expedition

In 1803, Jefferson oversaw the Louisiana Purchase, which added nearly 830,000 square miles to the United States and gave the country access to the major trade port of New Orleans. The acquired area included all or some of what are now Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and other states. It cost a total of over $23 million.