A political philosopher who promoted Republicanism, sharp limits on the powers of the federal government, and the separation of church and state, he was the author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1779, 1786). He was the eponym of Jeffersonian democracy and the founder and leader of the Jeffersonian Republican Party, which dominated the First Party System for over a quarter-century. Jefferson served as the wartime Governor of Virginia (1779–1781), first United States Secretary of State (1789–1793), and second Vice President (1797–1801).

A polymath, Jefferson was an agriculturalist, horticulturist, architect, archaeologist, paleontologist, author, inventor, and the founder of the University of Virginia. President John F. Kennedy welcomed forty-nine Nobel Prize winners to the White House in 1962, saying, "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

Facts:
3rd President of the United States
In office - March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1809
Vice President(s) Aaron Burr (1801-1805),
George Clinton (1805-1809)
Preceded by John Adams
Succeeded by James Madison
2nd Vice President of the United States
In office
March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801
President John Adams
Preceded by John Adams
Succeeded by Aaron Burr
Born April 13, 1743
Albemarle County, Virginia
Died July 4, 1826
Charlottesville, Virginia
Political party - Democratic-Republican
Spouse - Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson
Religion - Deism