Jeffersonian Policies

When Thomas Jefferson was elected president he knew that he had a hard task in front of him. The vision that he had envisioned for the country was vastly different than any of his predecessors. President Jefferson had some things going for him at the time. He was the first president inaugurated in the new national capital. President Jefferson tried to lead a simpler life than any president before him. This was leading him to try and get the country to his way of thinking. He launched a program to revamp the American economy and give the United States a place in the international community. By doing this he gained several supporters but also lost some that still did not have his same vision. President Jefferson was vested in free trade with other countries. He believed that trading internationally was the key to getting the economy back on track.

President Jefferson had the treasury secretary Albert Gallatin to help him execute his vision. They both were on the same thought of where the country needed to go. Mr. Gallatin first efforts were to try and settle the nation’s debts. Mr. Gallatin had to get the president’s approval for some budget cutting measures. They closed several embassies overseas, cut the military and the navy down. This was a very dangerous thing to do for the government that was backing free trade. Another item that Mr. Gallatin was able to complete was reducing the presence of the federal and putting more responsibilities onto the states where President Jefferson felt that it belonged.

President Jefferson’s vision had many threats to it at times. With his commitment to foreign trade he had to worry about pirates. This happened a lot until the United States started bribing the pirates to stop attacking them. This put a huge strain on the budget as well. The president did not like the bribing and dispatched the navy to try and handle the pirates. This is a bad idea especially since the navy had been depleted during budget