Let me preface my argument by saying that I believe Alexander Hamilton to be the greatest among the great at our nation's founding. To some extent, I suppose any lover of Hamilton will be a hater of Jefferson. But this is for the board to discuss.

And now to the case at hand:

1. Jefferson was a moral and physical coward. His self-proclaimed first childhood memory is being carried on a pillow by one of his family's slaves. I happen to think this early image is emblematic of Jefferson's little known epicurism and love of aristocratic comfort, not to mention his lifelong complicity in the owning and abuse of slaves (Sally Hemmings, his octoroon mistress). All of these moral weaknesses belie his self-publicized image as an egalitarian champion of the common, hard-working Virginia farmer. His "softness" also flies in the face of the Declaration's lofty rhetoric, a document he never claimed authorship for until it became politically convenient in the 1790's.

Unlike Hamilton and others, Jefferson never set foot on the battlefield during the Revolution. In addition, during his wartime governorship of Virginia, he virtually shirked his post. Ignoring warnings from Washington, he left Richmond defenseless and fled like a scared little girl, allowing the British to capture munitions and important government records. Not long afterwards, still cowering, Jefferson allowed the Brits to capture Charlottesville and apprehend the Virginia Assembly. When a British calvary unit approached Monticello, Jefferson cleared out. Detect a pattern here?

2. Jefferson was wrong about virtually every important early decision faced by the young nation. He favored the Articles of Confederation and was against the adoption of the Constitution. (Wrong!) He opposed the assumption of state debt accrued during the Revolution by the federal government. (Wrong!) He opposed the establishment of the National Bank to establish government credit, manage debt service, and create a viable paper currency. (Wrong!) He favored aligning national foreign and trade policy with the French rather than the British. (Wrong!)

3. He was a Machiavellian, back-stabbing, political in-fighter of the worst sort. Unlike Hamilton, who vituperated openly and in plain sight. Jefferson preferred to use proxies to vilify his enemies for him. In a pique of petty jealously, and probable penis envy, he and Madison established the National Gazette, bankrolling the editor with State Department money, to discredit Hamilton's policies by launching a never-ending smear campaign.

Thinking Washington a doddering, senile fool for siding with Hamilton, and resenting Washington's reluctance to facilitate his own personal ambition, Jefferson began to use proxies to besmirch the president while working to subvert his administration--all while remaining the publicly deferential secretary of state.

I will close by admitting that Jefferson's presidency was a good one. He surprisingly found the inner moral audacity to make the Louisiana purchase and helped clear away piracy abroad. But this relatively good ending does not obscure the fact that during the most crucial time in our nation's history, he was utterly worthless in every respect. Personally circumspect, lacking in moral and political judgment, self-indulgent and epicurean, and prone to acts of petty personal vengeance--even at the expense of the general body politic, Jefferson was a coward and a hypocrite, who's self-established cult of personality persistently and annoyingly remains.