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12 Axes Test
Portrait of Thomas Jefferson

Third US president

Thomas Jefferson’s political views

The author of the Declaration of Independence and third US president, who championed religious freedom and limited government while holding enslaved people.

Presidency
3rd, 1801–1809
Party
Democratic-Republican
Lived
1743–1826
Scored on
7 of 12 axes

Strongest documented leanings

  1. Progressive85%
  2. Federal80%
  3. Democratic80%
Where Jefferson stood on the twelve axes
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Where Jefferson stood on the twelve axes

Each bar is one axis, between its two poles. Only axes with a documented position are scored; the others are shown as faint stubs on the icon and listed below, never as neutral.

Based on the Declaration of Independence and Notes on the State of Virginia. An eloquent voice for individual liberty and decentralized republic.

  • Federal vs UnitaryFederal 80%
    FederalUnitary

    Strict limits on federal power in defense of states’ rights and local self-rule.

  • Democratic vs AutocraticDemocratic 80%
    DemocraticAutocratic

    Favoured broad participation, and proposed small ward republics so every citizen could take part in government.

  • Security vs FreedomFreedom 80%
    SecurityFreedom

    Declaration of Independence: unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

  • Planned vs Laissez-faireLaissez-faire 70%
    PlannedLaissez-faire

    Agrarian republicanism preferring free markets and minimal federal interference.

  • Isolationism vs GlobalismGlobalism 55%
    IsolationismGlobalism

    Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.

  • Irreligious vs ReligiousIrreligious 70%
    IrreligiousReligious

    Wall of separation between church and state in the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.

  • Progressive vs TraditionalProgressive 85%
    ProgressiveTraditional

    Argued that the earth belongs to the living, so each generation should be free to remake its laws.

No documented position, so not scored: Nationalism vs Internationalism, Militarist vs Pacifist, Assimilationist vs Multiculturalist, Collectivize vs Privatize, and Acceleration vs Bioconservative.

What shaped the scores

Dated actions from the record. Each is tied to the axis it informs.

  1. Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence, which Jefferson drafted.

    Security vs Freedom

    Declaration of Independence · National Archives

  2. Virginia’s assembly passes the Statute for Religious Freedom that Jefferson wrote, which disestablishes the Church of England in Virginia.

    Irreligious vs Religious

    Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom · Wikipedia

  3. In a letter to Madison he argues that the earth belongs to the living and that each generation should be free to remake its laws.

    Progressive vs Traditional

    To James Madison from Thomas Jefferson, 6 September 1789 · National Archives

  4. Kentucky passes the resolutions Jefferson drafted against the Alien and Sedition Acts; his draft claimed a right of nullification for the states.

    Federal vs Unitary

    Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions · Wikipedia

  5. In his first inaugural address he commits the country to “peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none”.

    Isolationism vs Globalism

    Presidency of Thomas Jefferson · Wikipedia

  6. His administration cuts taxes and spending, and the national debt falls from $83 million to $57 million.

    Planned vs Laissez-faire

    Presidency of Thomas Jefferson · Wikipedia

Jefferson compared with other presidents

Measured on the axes both presidents are scored on, with the same rules as the quiz.

Most like

Least like

Questions about Thomas Jefferson’s politics

The author of the Declaration of Independence and third US president, who championed religious freedom and limited government while holding enslaved people. On our twelve axes, the strongest documented leanings are Progressive 85%, Federal 80%, Democratic 80%.

Those labels changed meaning over time, so this site describes Jefferson on twelve axes instead. On the economy, Jefferson’s record leans toward free markets and private provision. On social questions it leans progressive. The scores above give the evidence behind each axis.

Thomas Jefferson was a Democratic-Republican. Jefferson was the 3rd president, serving 1801–1809.

On the axes they are both scored on, Jefferson is closest to James Madison, Jimmy Carter, Grover Cleveland and furthest from John Adams, Richard Nixon, Woodrow Wilson.

The record is mixed. His administration cut taxes, spending and the national debt, but he used the military to enforce the Embargo Act, and in 1806 he proposed a constitutional amendment to let Congress fund internal improvements and education.

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Sources and credits

Main source: Thomas Jefferson · Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Also read

Portrait: Rembrandt Peale, 1800 · Public domain

Scores are editorial estimates from the public record, not measurements. A place on this site is not praise.

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