THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL WORLD LEADERS OF ALL TIME

7 The 100 Most Influential World Leaders of All Time 7

Jefferson returned to Virginia in October 1776 and
immediately launched a project for the reform of the
state’s legal code, to bring it in line with the principles of
the American Revolution. He was elected governor of the
state in 1779. He was later criticized for being caught off-
guard by a surprise British invasion in 1780, against which
the state was defenseless.

American in Paris

Jefferson agreed, albeit reluctantly, to serve as a delegate
to the Continental Congress in December 1782, where
he drafted the first of the Northwest Ordinances for
dividing and settling the Northwest Territory. Then, in
1784, he agreed to replace Franklin as American minister
to France.
During his five-year sojourn in Paris, Jefferson accom-
plished very little in any official sense. Several conditions
rendered his best diplomatic efforts futile. The United
States was heavily in debt because of the recent war, so
few European nations were interested in signing treaties
of amity and commerce with the infant American repub-
lic. Additionally, France was drifting toward a cataclysmic
political crisis of its own, so relations with the upstart new
nation across the Atlantic were hardly a high priority. And
an alleged love affair with Sally Hemings, one of his slaves
whom he summoned to Paris, sparked a paternity debate
that persisted long after his death.

Party Politics

Jefferson returned to the United States in 1789 to serve as
the first secretary of state under President George
Washington. During his tenure as secretary of state, for-
eign policy was his chief responsibility. Within the cabinet