American Sphinx

The Character of Thomas Jefferson

By: Joseph J. Ellis

Narrated by: Susan O'Malley

For a man who insisted that life on the public stage was not what he had in mind, Thomas Jefferson certainly spent a great deal of time in the spotlight--and not only during his active political career. After 1809, his longed-for retirement was compromised by a steady stream of guests and tourists who made of his estate at Monticello a virtual hotel, as well as by more than one thousand letters per year, most from strangers, which he insisted on answering personally. In his twilight years Jefferson was already taking on the luster of a national icon, which was polished off by his auspicious death (on July 4, 1896); and in the subsequent seventeen decades of his celebrity--now verging, thanks to virulent revisionists and television documentaries, on notoriety--has been inflated beyond recognition of the original person.

For the historian Joseph J. Ellis, the experience of writing about Jefferson was "as if a pathologist, just about to begin an autopsy, has discovered that the body on the operating table was still breathing." In American Sphinx, Ellis sifts the facts shrewdly from the legends and the rumors, treading a path between vilification and hero worship in order to formulate a plausible portrait of the man who still today "hover[s] over the political scene like one of those dirigibles cruising above a crowded football stadium, flashing words of inspiration to both teams." For, at the grass roots, Jefferson is no longer liberal or conservative, agrarian or industrialist, pro- or anti-slavery, privileged or populist. He is all things to all people. His own obliviousness to incompatible convictions within himself (which left him deaf to most forms of irony) has leaked out into the world at large--a world determined to idolize him despite his foibles.

From Ellis we learn that Jefferson sang incessantly under his breath; that he delivered only two public speeches in eight years as president, while spending ten hours a day at his writing desk; that sometimes his political sensibilities collided with his domestic agenda, as when he ordered an expensive piano from London during a boycott (and pledged to "keep it in storage"). We see him relishing such projects as the nailery at Monticello that allowed him to interact with his slaves more palatably, as pseudo-employer to pseudo-employees. We grow convinced that he preferred to meet his lovers in the rarefied region of his mind rather than in the actual bedchamber. We watch him exhibiting both great depth and great shallowness, combining massive learning with extraordinary naïveté, piercing insights with self-deception on the grandest scale. We understand why we should neither beatify him nor consign him to the rubbish heap of history, though we are by no means required to stop loving him. He is Thomas Jefferson, after all--our very own sphinx.

Critic reviews

“Fascinating … an erudite and illuminating study.” —The New York Times

“This elegant book on Jefferson sets a standard—history at its best.” —Chicago Tribune Editor’s Choice

“A brilliant, unconventional look at Jefferson … beautifully written, cogently argues, full of both zealous scholarship and lively imagination.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer

“Magnificent.… Ellis has a Jeffersonian gift for language.” —Newsweek

“Lively and provocative … first-rate.” —David McCullough

Good book but goes in waves

It was interesting but had a lot of lag content wise. The reader was okay but if I sped it up then it became much hard to understand. Overall I really liked the book and would recommend to other it just wasn’t my personal favorite

A good portrait of Jefferson’s character

The book does a good job displaying the contradictions and complexities of Jefferson, and while the Sally Hemings content hasn’t aged well, it does serve as another example of how elusive and contradictory Jefferson could be.

Indelible portrait of a complex visionary

This book is a portrait of the personality of Thomas Jefferson more than a biography. It is propelled by beautiful and nuanced prose. It’s accessible to the general reader and contains a wealth of historiography. The audio book has two minor weaknesses. One, the chapters are far too long most approach two hours. Two, this audio does not capture the revised appendix which came out in 1998 that discusses DNA test results related to Sally Hemming’s children. Since the audio came out later this is inexplicable. But the book is a genuinely beautiful. It is certainly worthy of the National Book Award.

Excellent, in-depth account of Jefferson’s life and especially, his psychology

The book is very insightful and gives a great lesson on the life and impact of Thomas Jefferson on our society - both then and now. It also does a deep-dive into his psychology - his philosophies, motivations, and rationalizations. He was a fascinating character. I will say the author has a more cynical approach to Jefferson. He often points out his hypocrisy, unrealistic idealism, and societal fantasies. He certainly did not write the book as a tribute to Jefferson. I still enjoyed it. I am walking away with many surprises of new enlightenments I received from reading the book. Our Founders were great men, but men they were - flawed, imperfect men - who gave everything they had to establish the country we now reap the blessings of. Jefferson did everything he could to form the government in the image he believed was most conducive to our freedom. This book does a great job of describing those beliefs, and what drove him.

Jo, this hurts me as much as it’s gonna hurt you

Joseph Ellis is one hell of a great historian and writer – – probably my favorite. He really went out on a limb, though, which he cautions us not to do when studying history, when siding with the naysayers on the misogyny matter.

He convinced me that Thomas Jefferson was so very private and also perfectly comfortable living in painful paradox. Jefferson is also the sphinx – we don’t know what the hell he’s thinking.

That, and sally Hemmings was a drop-dead beauty who spent a lot of time in Mr. Jefferson’s chamber. He was very kind to his slaves, and he sorely yearned for the comfort of sexual intimacy which might also appear yet greater in temptation, knowing he could control this relationship and thereby the paradox and the wrongs. I find for the plaintiff, even in the absence of DNA

Hemming footnote was a HUGE error, which he notably corrects in at least one later work. He therefore remains among my top historians. Blame that scheming visionary Jefferson and that twisted curious institution that even today spews nuclear debris