When Thomas Jefferson wrote his epitaph, he listed as his
accomplishments his authorship of the Declaration of Independence
and the Virginia statute of religious freedom, and his founding of
the University of Virginia. He did not mention his presidency or
that he was second governor of the state of Virginia, in the most
trying hours of the Revolution. Dumas Malone, author of the epic
six-volume biography, wrote that the events of this time explain
Jefferson's "character as a man of action in a serious emergency."
Joseph Ellis, author of American Sphinx, focuses on other parts of
Jefferson's life but wrote that his actions as governor "toughened
him on the inside." It is this period, when Jefferson was literally
tested under fire, that Michael Kranish illuminates in Flight from
Monticello.
Filled with vivid, precisely observed scenes, this book is a
sweeping narrative of clashing armies--of spies, intrigue,
desperate moments, and harrowing battles. The story opens with the
first murmurs of resistance to Britain, as the colonies struggled
under an onerous tax burden and colonial leaders--including
Jefferson--fomented opposition to British rule. Kranish captures
the tumultuous outbreak of war, the local politics behind
Jefferson's actions in the Continental Congress (and his famous
Declaration), and his rise to the governorship. Jefferson's
life-long belief in the corrupting influence of a powerful
executive led him to advocate for a weak governorship, one that
lacked the necessary powers to raise an army. Thus, Virginia was
woefully unprepared for the invading British troops who sailed up
the James under the direction of a recently turned Benedict Arnold.
Facing rag-tag resistance, the British force took the colony with
very little trouble. The legislature fled the capital, and
Jefferson himself narrowly eluded capture twice.
Kranish describes Jefferson's many stumbles as he struggled to
respond to the invasion, and along the way, the author paints an
intimate portrait of Jefferson, illuminating his quiet
conversations, his family turmoil, and his private hours at
Monticello. "Jefferson's record was both remarkable and
unsatisfactory, filled with contradictions," writes Kranish. As a
revolutionary leader who felt he was unqualified to conduct a war,
Jefferson never resolved those contradictions--but, as Kranish
shows, he did learn lessons during those dark hours that served him
all his life.
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