1 March 2008 16 views  Print  Email This

BRIGHT, BUT BROKE

Is there anything Thomas Jefferson couldn’t do?  He was good at so many things - he was a brilliant political thinker, author of the Declaration of Independence, diplomat, architect, inventor, scientific farmer, musician, founder of the prestigious Univ. of Virginia, creator of the decimal system of coinage for the U.S., effective president, and one of the great figures in American history - but sadly, he was not good at managing money.  Jefferson enjoyed fine living and often outspent his income to support his lavish lifestyle.

Jefferson had done so much for this country that many tried to help.  Congress overpaid Jefferson for his book collection, and members of the public, who often had much less than Jefferson, made contributions to his cause.  But all this help was too little, too late; when he died in 1862, he had racked up over $100,000 of debt.  In today’s terms, that’d be like $1.5 million!  Jefferson’s family, stuck with his debt, had no choice but to sell Jefferson’s beloved home, Monticello, to help settle the debt.