It helped them transport things easier i think
As Jefferson was the third President and the Federal Court system was designed to have life-time appointments, many of the original holders of Federal judicial posts were held by Federalist appointees who had not yet died in office or resigned.
So, Jefferson found himself waiting for turnover on the bench without much success.
They needed to maintain a certain level of strength for "duties".
Well, this answer is hugely personal, but I'd argue it's due to the US's law against international intervention (it took the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour to finally convince the congress to join the war) and the fact that fascist ideas were pretty popular in the south of the country, namely in the regions that were sympathetic to racial segregation with whom the idea of a superior race promoted by fascist and nazi ideology was pretty popular. Again, this is based on my opinion, I am no pre-WW2-American scholar!
