Question

What were the success and failures of the Jefferson administration

Answer 1

Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated as the 3rd President of the United States, served two terms as President as was viewed as a good president.  

However, the presidency is such a tough job to do, therefore we can't expect anyone in the office to be perfect.
Here are the some of his achievements and at the same time failures during his term of office. 

Achievements: 

1. He purchased more than 800,000 square miles of Louisiana Territory from France, thus expands the US territory. 

2. He launched an expedition to learn more about the Native American tribes and to find a water passage between Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean.
  -  It was, by the way, the Lewis and Clark Expedition whom he sent.

3.  He founded the University of Virginia 
 - He believed that education creates leaders not just preachers or professors. This university was actually the first non-sectarian university and the first to use the elective course system in the US. 

4. He pioneered in sustainable agriculture. 
   -  He was a huge fan of eating vegetables which he grew by himself. After all, vegetables are good for our health. No preservatives and vitamins can outweigh the benefits we could get from vegetables aside fruits. 

5. He advocated free public education.  
    The bill which had written in 1779 laid the groundwork for free public education in Virginia. 

Failures: 

1. He did not end nor fight against slavery. 
 - He actually owned slaves himself and that's a contributing factor why he failed in this area. 

2. He wasn't successful in dealing with Great Britain and France with the US interference in trade. 
 -  France and Great Britain were actually at war. Each party wanted to prevent the American goods from reaching their enemy so they seized the American ships to reach their rival. 

3. The Embargo Act of 1807, a law passed by the US Congress and signed by President Jefferson was a complete failure. 
 - This law prohibits the American ships from trading to all foreign ports. And it was a failure because the US economy depended mostly on trade. 

4. His military policies mostly had negative effects.  
 - It's probably because of his reluctance to support the military establishment. 

 I can't find more failures of his presidency because most of them are successes.