Presidential Policies of Thoman Jefferson Essay - 1447 Words

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson, like William Howard Taft, was a conservative American President. He believed that if he were to be more forceful, by means of extending his presidential power by finding loop-holes around the Constitution, in running the executive branch, the presidency would become too much like an English monarchy. He also believed that the government should be defined by a more limited executive with significant governing power in the hands of a democratically-elected legislative branch rather than solely on the president; he believed in legislative supremacy and a decentralized government. A strong believer in the Constitution, he thought that the executive branchs main duty was to uphold this document and cater†¦show more content†¦He believed that whatever was written in the Constitution is what goes. To him, the Constitution was his only means of guidelines and therefore tried his best to follow it to the â€Å"T†. John Marshal once said, â€Å"Mr. Jefferson appears to me to be a man who will embody himself with the House of Representatives. By weakening the office of President he will increase his personal power.† He would always make sure that whatever he planned to do, the Constitution spelled it out for him or clearly granted him the authority to do so. If not, he would think of another outlet as to how to get his plan into action, while at the same time staying within the realms of his granted power. Jefferson had this view, primarily because of his firm loyalty to the United States, the drafting of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the admiration which he upheld dearly to for the two Presidents before him. During the start of his presidency, he also encountered issues with the Barbary pirates. Barbary pirates on the north coast of Africa harassed all shipping at the turn of the 19th century. Because of this issue, President Thomas Jefferson declared war against the Barbary pirates. He refused to pay the high tributes demanded by the Barbary states because they were seizing American merchant ships and enslaving the crews for high ransoms. It was the first declared war the United States fought on foreign land and seas. Jefferson