Have You Ever Wondered How Being President of the United States Can Change You?

Document Based Question 3

Have you ever wondered how being president of the United States can change you? Every single president since George Washington has gone through enormous change. All of them aged quite a bit due to all the stress. Many of them even changed their philosophy and ideals. Before presidency, Thomas Jefferson strongly favored state rights. He opposed the federalists want regarding a powerful government. But, when he became president, he slowly began to alter his ideals. After he entered the white house, some of his philosophy changed and he started to realize what was best for America and not himself.

Even though Jefferson kept most of his ideas the same, he changed a few. For example, He was strongly against having a national bank before his presidency. He didn't want a national bank because it would make the federal government too strong. He didn't want to risk having the government taking too much from the states. To add to this, he worried that the bank could fail. When he became president, he realized how life changing the bank could be for America. The bank ended up being successful when it came into play, by decreasing the national debt by a little. This change didn't change his bad views on the federalists, Jefferson simply adopted one of their good ideas that would impact America and help it obtain a better future.

Jefferson kept most of his views prior to becoming president the same. For instance, he always opposed the excise tax on whiskey. Many states in the west were angry because they made a living on the whiskey that the tariff taxed. In a letter to Madison, Jefferson wrote about how the excise tax and the constitution didn't get along well. He wrote that he felt the tax would eventually put apart the United States. Removing the excise tax was an important priority and it was one of the first things Jefferson did in office.

Keeping the United States rid of the excise tax wasn't the only thing he had an opinion on. He also wanted to keep the United States free from war. This was something he changed his views on. In about 1801, The Barbary Pirates near North America, led by Pasha and Tripoli, wanted a lot of money. They demanded the money with the threat that they would attack American ships if we refused. Jefferson had no choice besides going to war. This shows that Jefferson didn't change his ideals when he became president because he was a "changed man", but because he knew going to war, in this case, was the best for America.

Another way he changed after presidency is when he bought the Louisiana Purchase. Even though he strongly supported the constitution, purchasing the large land for only three cents an acre went against it. Nowhere in the constitution mentions the president being able to purchase land from other countries without talking with the congress. The choice to buy