I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." --Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and third President of the United States, was this nation's greatest champion of representative democracy and the rights of man. He was our most eloquent spokesman on the founding principles of American self-government. As he himself said, "I know my own principles to be pure …showed first 75 words of 733 total…

…showed last 75 words of 733 total…than the burners of witches." --Thomas Jefferson to B. Waterhouse, 1818. I'm not sure we have lived up to Jefferson's expectations, or that we are as competent at building on the foundation as the Founding Fathers were at laying it; but that is our responsibility, whether we meet it or not. If this nation is to remain free and secure, it is necessary that the citizens themselves take responsibility to keep it on the right course.