Senate resolution honors Jefferson

Wednesday was Thomas Jefferson’s 273rd birthday.

To recognize it, Missouri Sen. Bob Dixon, R-Springfield, introduced a resolution calling Jefferson the “greatest advocate of democracy of all time.”

Dixon’s four-page resolution asked state senators to “rededicate our lives and pledge anew our devotion to those principles of democracy and human liberty, as envisioned by Thomas Jefferson, apostle of just government by free people.”

Dixon explained: “I thought this would be the right thing to do if we marked that (anniversary) with a little bit of history … about the father of the Declaration of Independence — the man who was assigned to write it, really — and who really embodied the principles that we enjoy today, in our nation.”

Senate Floor Leader Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, called Dixon’s resolutionan appropriate step in the city named for Jefferson, where most local residents “take our namesake very seriously.”

Dixon’s resolution called the Louisiana Purchase “the most significant and far-reaching extension of territory ever peaceably made by any government in all of human history.”

The resolution also noted Jefferson was “a man thoroughly rounded in nature and accomplishments who so nobly fulfilled all the important responsibilities which came to him in his notable career.” It listed some of those as “author, architect, President of the Philosophical Society of the United States for (20) years, scholar, statesman, first Secretary of State, second Vice-President, and third President of the United States.”

Kehoe noted Jefferson “was so ahead of his time, it’s unbelievable,” and reminded Dixon that Monticello — Jefferson’s home in Charlottsville, Virginia — had an ice house that provided “ice throughout the summer because he cut big chunks of ice out of the ponds in the winter, kept it in a basement room that was insulated.”

Sen. Jason Holsman, D-Kansas City, noted he’s “always been a fan of Thomas Jefferson’s contributions” — although he also “was a deeply flawed man, as well, like all of us.”

Jefferson “left us with some incredible quotes,” Holsman added, although he was a poor public speaker.

He was a slave-owner, which was acceptable then.

“He was the first person to, really, exercise and invent negative campaigning,” Holsman said, “and (James) Madison was his partner in crime.”

Dixon added: “And some of it was much worse than we see today.”

Holsman noted Jefferson — who was U.S. secretary of state in George Washington’s first presidential term — left the administration and turned on Washington and “published such damning information in the periodicals they were controlling that Washington severed ties with Jefferson and, for the rest of his life, refused to say (Jefferson’s) name, always referring to him as ‘That Man.’”

Sen. Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, noted Jefferson had “10 rules for a good life,” including:

• Never put off to tomorrow what you can do today.

• Never spend your money before you have it.

• When angry, count to 10 (before you speak). When extremely angry, count to 100.