American Sphinx the Character of Thomas Jefferson
- Binding: Paperback
- Publisher: Penguin Random House
- Publish date: 04/01/1998
Following his subject from the drafting of the Declaration of Independence to his retirement in Monticello, Ellis unravels the contradictions of the Jeffersonian character. He gives us the slaveholding libertarian; the enemy of government power who exercised it audaciously as president; the visionary who remained curiously blind to the inconsistencies in his nature. From Ellis we learn that Jefferson sang incessantly under his breath and that he delivered only two public speeches in eight years as president, while spending ten hours a day at his writing desk. American Sphinx is a marvel of scholarship, a delight to read, and an essential gloss on the Jeffersonian legacy.
