On this tax day, April 15, 2010, I think it is interesting to note what our Third U.S. President said in his inaugural speech, in 1801.

“A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned–this is the sum of good government.”

Then after two years in office, Jefferson spoke of his achievements: “At home, fellow citizens, you best know whether we have done well or ill. The suppression of unnecessary offices, of useless establishments and expenses, enabled us to discontinue our internal taxes . . . . The remaining revenue, on the consumption of foreign articles, is paid cheerfully by those who can afford to add foreign luxuries to domestic comforts . . . . It may be the pleasure and pride of an American to ask, what farmer, what mechanic, what laborer ever sees a tax-gatherer of the United States?”

The American people approved his policies:  “Internal taxes were reduced; the military budget was cut; the Alien and Sedition Acts were permitted to lapse; and plans were made to extinguish the public debt. Simplicity and frugality became the hallmarks of Jefferson’s administration. The Lousiana Purchase (1803) capped his achievements. . . . The Purchase was received with popular enthusiasm. In the election of 1804, Jefferson swept every state except two–Connecticut and Delaware. . . . The following year, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which the president had dispatched to explore the Louisiana Territory, returned triumphantly after crossing the continent.” (As quoted in Founding Fathers–Uncommon Heroes, Allen, Steven W., page 167.)