Jefferson and his Colleagues, A Chronicle of the Virginia | Page 5

been stampeded into the ranks of his opponents during the
recent troubles with France. These lost political sheep Jefferson was
bent upon restoring to the Republican fold by avoiding utterances and
acts which would offend them. "I always exclude the leaders from these
considerations," he added confidentially. In short, this Inaugural
Address was less a great state paper, marking a broad path for the
Government to follow under stalwart leadership, than an astute effort to
consolidate the victory of the Republican party.
Disappointing the address must have been to those who had expected a
declaration of specific policy. Yet the historian, wiser by the march of
events, may read between the lines. When Jefferson said that he desired
a wise and frugal government--a government "which should restrain
men from injuring one another but otherwise leave them free to
regulate their own pursuits--" and when he announced his purpose "to
support the state governments in all their rights" and to cultivate "peace
with all nations--entangling alliances with none," he was in effect
formulating a policy. But all this was in the womb of the future.
It was many weeks before Jefferson took up his abode in the President's
House. In the interval he remained in his old quarters, except for a visit
to Monticello to arrange for his removal, which indeed he was in no
haste to make, for "The Palace," as the President's House was dubbed
satirically, was not yet finished; its walls were not fully plastered, and it
still lacked the main staircase-which, it must be admitted, was a serious
defect if the new President meant to hold court. Besides, it was
inconveniently situated at the other end of the, straggling, unkempt
village. At Conrad's Jefferson could still keep in touch with those

members of Congress and those friends upon whose advice he relied in
putting "our Argosie on her Republican tack," as he was wont to say.
Here, in his drawing-room, he could talk freely with practical
politicians such as Charles Pinckney, who had carried the ticket to
success in South Carolina and who might reasonably expect to be
consulted in organizing the new Administration.
The chief posts in the President's official household, save one, were
readily filled. There were only five heads of departments to be
appointed, and of these the Attorney-General might be described as a
head without a department, since the duties of his office were few and
required only his occasional attention. As it fell out, however, the
Attorney-General whom Jefferson appointed, Levi Lincoln of
Massachusetts, practically carried on the work of all the Executive
Departments until his colleagues were duly appointed and
commissioned. For Secretary of War Jefferson chose another reliable
New Englander, Henry Dearborn of Maine. The naval portfolio went
begging, perhaps because the navy was not an imposing branch of the
service, or because the new President had announced his desire to lay
up all seven frigates in the eastern branch of the Potomac, where "they
would be under the immediate eye of the department and would require
but one set of plunderers to look after them." One conspicuous
Republican after another declined this dubious honor, and in the end
Jefferson was obliged to appoint as Secretary of the Navy Robert Smith,
whose chief qualification was his kinship to General Samuel Smith, an
influential politician of Maryland.
The appointment by Jefferson of James Madison as Secretary of State
occasioned no surprise, for the intimate friendship of the two
Virginians and their long and close association in politics led everyone
to expect that he would occupy an important post in the new
Administration, though in truth that friendship was based on something
deeper and finer than mere agreement in politics. "I do believe,"
exclaimed a lady who often saw both men in private life, "father never
loved son more than Mr. Jefferson loves Mr. Madison." The difference
in age, however, was not great, for Jefferson was in his fifty-eighth year
and Madison in his fiftieth. It was rather mien and character that
suggested the filial relationship. Jefferson was, or could be if he chose,
an imposing figure; his stature was six feet two and one-half inches.

Madison had the ways and habits of a little man, for he was only five
feet six. Madison was naturally timid and retiring in the presence of
other men, but he was at his best in the company of his friend Jefferson,
who valued his attainments. Indeed, the two men supplemented each
other. If Jefferson was prone to theorize, Madison was disposed to find
historical evidence to support a political doctrine. While Jefferson
generalized boldly, even rashly, Madison hesitated, temporized,
weighed the pros and cons, and came with difficulty to a conclusion.
Unhappily neither was a good judge of men. When pitted against a
Bonaparte, a Talleyrand, or