The patron saint of Charlottesville is taking several more blows to his reputation thanks to a new book, Twilight at Monticello: The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson, reviewed in today’s Washington Post. The book portrays the post-presidential Jefferson as “an irresponsible, impractical, self-serving and self-deluded man who rarely lived up to his ideals.” In one particularly nasty episode, a friend and Florentine horticulturalist had Jefferson look after his American holdings, “only to find out that the Sage of Monticello had sold them and loaned himself the proceeds to continue his architectural experiments.”
Previous "This Just In" articles from this week:
Wise decisions [February 2]
State, feeling public pressure, slows progress of Dominion’s Southwest Virginia plant
The game is on [February 1]
Alabama church steps up for Rutherford’s NFL lawsuit
New job tolls for Bell? [January 31]
Washington Post tabs Rob Bell as possible Attorney General candidate
Going global [January 30]
UVA’s Darden in top 100 business schools…in the world!
Virginia population boom surrounds Charlottesville [January 29]
Fluvanna, Orange and Louisa see highest increase