April 13 is Thomas Jefferson’s birthday. But as he wrote to Levi Lincoln in 1803, Jefferson preferred that nobody knows. If there was a birthday worth celebrating, it’s America’s birthday on July 4, not his own.

2 comments

1. Thomas Jefferson didn’t like pomp and more interested in accomplishments than positions. For example, on his tombstone, Jefferson didn’t even mention him being US President; it lists only 3 things and they were all accomplishments. Therefore, Jefferson directed his staff that his birthday not be celebrated and instead celebrate America’s birthday on July 4, which is an accomplishment.

2. He and John Adams died on that date on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. James Monroe followed them exactly five years later.

Comments are closed.