ABSTRACT
It is a tribute to Jefferson's skill of maneuver that he managed his ascent, but it was also due to his basic intellectual commitment. His inevitable disenchantment with the course of the French Revolution, which he could not have hidden from himself even when he chose not to parade it before his political opponents, threw him back into a greater concern than ever with the protection of freedoms inside his own country. Frankly and vigorously a party man, Jefferson defended the emerging American party system. While President Washington considered "factions" both dangerous and unnecessary in a democracy, somehow the products of a perverse divisive spirit, Jefferson saw them as an integral part of the process of government. While recognizing the inevitable emergence of a party system, Jefferson in the early years didn't want to identify himself with any party.
