Thomas Jefferson

Awards & Honours

Awards Won

Honours

Rankings

Covers

Records

Jefferson's achievements are monumental. He authored the Declaration of Independence, the founding document of American democracy. As president, he doubled the nation's size with the Louisiana Purchase and sent Lewis and Clark to explore the West. He founded the University of Virginia, designing its architecture and curriculum. His Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom became a model for the First Amendment. These accomplishments place him among the most influential figures in American history, though his legacy is complicated by his ownership of enslaved people.

AwardsJefferson received several academic honors during his lifetime, including election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1787) and the Royal Society (1787). He served as president of the American Philosophical Society from 1797 to 1815. Posthumously, his face was carved on Mount Rushmore and the Jefferson Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C.

Honours & Distinctions

Jefferson Memorial

United States Government·1943

National memorial in Washington, D.C., dedicated to Jefferson

Mount Rushmore

United States Government·1939

Jefferson's face carved on the mountain alongside Washington, Lincoln, and Roosevelt

Honorary LL.D. from Harvard University

Harvard University·1787

Honorary doctorate of laws

Honorary LL.D. from Yale University

Yale University·1787

Honorary doctorate of laws

Honorary LL.D. from College of William & Mary

College of William & Mary·1791

Honorary doctorate of laws

Rankings & Lists

C-SPAN Presidential Historians Survey

C-SPAN·2021

#12

Greatest American

Discovery Channel·2005

#11

100 Most Influential Americans

The Atlantic·2014

Magazine Covers

TIME

July 4, 1976

Bicentennial Issue

TIME

April 13, 1993

250th Birthday Issue

National Geographic

September 2009

Thomas Jefferson: The Man Behind the Myth

Smithsonian

April 2012

Jefferson's Secret Life

Records & Feats

Only president to serve two full terms and never veto a bill

Political·1809

Jefferson did not use the veto power during his eight years in office, a unique record among U.S. presidents.

Largest territorial acquisition in U.S. history by a single president

Territorial Expansion·1803

The Louisiana Purchase added 828,000 square miles, doubling the size of the United States at a cost of $15 million.

Only president to have a major political party named after him (Democratic-Republican)

Political·1792

Jefferson's party was originally called the Democratic-Republican Party, though it later evolved into the modern Democratic Party.