Virginian Thomas Jefferson had many careers: farmer, lawyer, inventor, architect and statesman. A member of the Second Continental Congress, he was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson went on to serve as governor of Virginia, minister to France and secretary of state to George Washington.

A political foe of John Adams, he lost the 1796 presidential election to him and served as his vice president. A hard-fought rematch in 1800 gave the presidency to Jefferson.

During his presidency, Jefferson waged war on the Barbary pirates and signed legislation that stopped the importation of slaves to the U.S. He arranged for the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the size of the country, and sent Lewis and Clark on their westward expedition.

In 1809, Jefferson, a longtime widower, retired to his Virginia estate, Monticello, $24,000 in debt. Six years later, he sold his personal library to the government, and it became the basis of the Library of Congress.

During retirement, Jefferson dedicated much of his time to establishing the University of Virginia. He served as architect, designed the curriculum and selected the faculty. He also reconciled with his old political foe, John Adams. In 1826, as the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence neared, Jefferson’s health seriously declined, but he made it to the anniversary, dying on July 4, 1826. Jefferson composed his own epitaph: “Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia.”