Here Jefferson's ability as a writer did good service; for of the
committee of five appointed to draw up the Declaration of Independence
Jefferson was a member, and it fell to him to write the first draft of
that great state paper.
Congress spent a few days in going over this draft and making some slight
changes in it. In the main, however, it stands as Jefferson wrote it.
After filling many of the high offices in the country, in 1801 Jefferson
became the third President of the United States. In this lofty position
history gives us another striking picture of the man. It shows that he was
simple in his tastes, and that he liked best those plain ways of living
which are most familiar to the common people.
On the day of his inauguration he went on foot to the Capitol, dressed in
his every-day clothes and attended only by a few friends. It became his
custom later, when going up to the Capitol on official business, to go on
horseback, tying his horse with his own hands to a near-by fence before
entering the building. He declined to hold weekly receptions, as had been
the custom when Washington and Adams were Presidents, but instead he
opened his house to all on the Fourth of July, and on New Year's Day.
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