The Awkward Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson may have been the eloquent writer of our nation's Declaration of Independence, but he was terribly awkward when it came to women. Not only was he one of the last of his circle of friends to marry; once he had found a woman he was enamored with enough to want to marry, he spoke/wrote about the idea with his best male friends more than with the woman herself, Rebecca Burwell. When he finally brought up the idea to Rebecca Burwell, she turned him down, gave him another chance, turned him down again, and soon after married a mutual acquaintance.  

This rejection, according to Jon Kukla, became the impetus for debilitating headaches that Jefferson suffered from for most of his life in response to stress and for an intensified misogyny on his part. To me, Jefferson sounded like the worst of men today who feel entitled to a woman's affections or physicality and when turned down decide to hate on all women.   

But also, good for Rebecca Burwell for knowing what she wanted, or in this case what she didn't want, and holding out for a marriage of love. I wondered: how does one respond later in life when the man she refused ends up being President. Turns out for Burwell, it didn't much matter. According to Kukla, she was quite happy in her marriage and paid little regard to Jefferson later in life, even as her husband worked as a member of Jefferson's Council of State while Jefferson was governor of Virginia.   

As for Jefferson, he remained as awkward around women as ever, yet at the same time desperate for their attentions and love. So much so that he attempted to seduce a married woman. And not just any married woman, but the wife of his life-long friend while said friend was away on business. As far as the historical record knows, nothing ever came of Jefferson's attempts to seduce John Walker's wife except humiliation for all parties involved. Elizabeth Moore Walker rejected Jefferson's advances—advances that supposedly went on long after John Walker had returned, perhaps even after Jefferson himself was married—but when the scandalous accusations surfaced during Jefferson's presidency among others, the attempted seduction was the only accusation Jefferson admitted to be truth.   

Women made Jefferson nervous, especially single women. Jefferson was only ever comfortable around married women, them being "domesticated" and knowing "their place." It's a wonder he ever managed to find one to marry . . .  

Thomas Jefferson and Women: What I Know Going In

Thomas Jefferson's wife had died before he was elected the third President of the United States. I know nothing about their marriage but that they had a daughter. Sally Hemings is a controversial relation in Jefferson's story, but I gather that it is generally accepted by modern scholars that they did indeed have some sort of liaison. The nature of that liaison is more debatable, but it is possible that Jefferson sired more than one child with Hemmings. Finally, in deciding which book to read, I learned that Jefferson apparently was something of a misogynist, had an obsession with a married woman (before his own marriage), and could be domineering with his daughter.   

https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Jeffersons-Women-Jon-Kukla/dp/1400043247

I have chosen to learn about the women in Thomas Jefferson's life according to Mr. Jefferson's Women by Jon Kukla (mostly because it is relatively short and readily available at my public library). I will supplement Kukla's story with the Introduction, Conclusion, and relevant parts of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: an American Controversy by Annette Gordon-Reed.*

* I dropped the ball on reading this one. I read most of the introductory parts, which sounded like the book would make a fascinatingly objective statement of the facts from a lawyer's perspective. But before I could get any further, my library copy, the only one in my library's system, was requested by another patron and I had to return said copy. Maybe someday I'll get around to reading more.  

Abigail Adams, Some Clarifications

This blog is not moving at an ideal pace. I apologize for that. In the interest of moving forward, this entry will include only very brief clarifications on my original thoughts on Abigail Adams, quick and undetailed, entirely from memory since I finished the biography more two weeks ago. That way I can feel comfortable moving ahead to Thomas Jefferson and the women in his life.    

I think the most important thing to clarify about Abigail Adams is that her ideas about both race and women were complicated and often contradictory. Adams may have included a condemnation of slavery in her "remember the ladies letter," but she didn't necessarily believe in equal ability or opportunity for blacks in America. And she was appalled by the idea of interracial relationships, most glaringly addressed in a letter she wrote after seeing a performance of Othello when in London (I'm almost certain it was London; definitely during her time living abroad with John). She may have believed that women had every right to personal property, in defiance of the law, and that women were at a disadvantage in a society that did not value education for them, but Adams also believed women should, above all else, abide by their duties happily. Adams was downright mean to her daughter-in-law when she complained about her unhappiness as a diplomatic wife abroad. Adams could also be terribly judgmental of other women; she was especially cruel in her judgments of foreign women.   

It is also important to clarify that Abigail Adams grew wealthy through speculation in government bonds. She relied on her male cousin to act as her representative when needed, but she claimed the wealth as her own and doled it out in her own personal will. It was a method to wealth that defied her husband's more conservative desire to invest in land, since she shrewdly knew that she would have no legal recourse in physical property until after John's death. Abigail Adams could, however, be blind to the ways in the risky practice of bond speculation was making her rich while bottoming out the investments and livelihoods of other Americans, including her own relations. Adams could be unnecessarily meddlesome in the lives of her relations, but even that trait could not prevent the failure and untimely death (due to alcoholism) of more than one male relative.   

But I'll soon get to learn more about one of her sons who achieved great success – John Quincy Adams, sixth U. S. President.   

Movie Interlude: _Jackie_

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_(2016_film)

In trying to keep up with all the potential "Oscar bait" at the box office this year, I went to see the first-lady-focused film Jackie just before New Years. Natalie Portman is stellar in the title role and deserves every awards she wins. The film is an engrossing mix of real footage, historical recreation, and imaginative license in exploring Jackie's grief in  the days just after the JFK assassination. Organized around a media interview set up to "manage" her husband's legacy in the wake of his assassination, the film jumps around non-linearly from the interview, to the shooting, to life in the White House, to funeral preparations, and other moments in the mind and memory of the grieving widow. The time-hopping combined with the atonal score places the viewer in the off-kilter mindset of a person coping with tragedy. Avoiding spoilers, I will not comment on any further specifics of the plot but will say Jackie does important work raising questions of how legacies are created, news reported, and history remembered. It's worth viewing if it happens to be playing in your area.