Extract about Thomas Jefferson, by the Duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt

[22–29 June 1796]

In private life Mr. Jefferson displays a mild, easy and obliging temper, though he is somewhat cold and reserved. His conversation is of the most agreeable kind, and he possesses a stock of information not inferior to that of any other man.

Published in François Alexandre, duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, Travels through the United States of North America, the Country of the Iroquois, and Upper Canada, in the years 1795, 1796, and 1797 (2d ed., London, 1800), 3:157.

La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt arrived at Monticello on 22 June 1796, bearing letters of introduction from William Branch Giles and James Madison, and remained for a week. He came uninvited by TJ, who had earlier remarked to Madison that he had little interest in “renewing a slight acquaintance, never valued.” (TJ to Madison, 3 Dec. 1795; Giles to TJ, 20 Mar. 1796; Madison to TJ, 21 Mar. 1796; TJ to Archibald Stuart, 29 June 1796).

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