Thomas Jefferson

America's third president was born near Williamsburg in Virginia. He became a lawyer and the chief author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson was also a political philosopher, literate in six languages, a slave-owner, an anti-slavery campaigner, a gifted architect and an enthusiastic gardener who kept a Garden book (published in 1944) and designed his own house and garden at Monticello. Jefferson was involved with Pierre L'Enfant's plan for Washington DC and designed the buildings and the campus for the University of Virginia. He was a truly great man.