it’s not just students and Presidents, it is every American–indeed, every human life ever touched by the daring idea of self-government–that Mr. Jefferson has influenced.

The pursuit of science, the study of the great works, the value of free inquiry, in short, the very idea of the living the life of the mind–yes, these formative and abiding principles of higher education in America had their first and firmest advocate, and their greatest embodiment, in a tall,...