In Defense of Thomas Jefferson

“[Hyland's] approach to the alleged Jefferson-Hemings relationship is ingenious and he has made what I judge to be an irrefutable case.” -Professor Forrest McDonald, History Professor Emeritus, University of Alabama, and National Endowment for the Humanities, 16th Jefferson Lecturer in the Humanities, author of The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson

The belief that Thomas Jefferson had an affair and fathered a child (or children) with slave Sally Hemings has become so pervasive in American popular culture that it is not only widely accepted but taught to students as historical fact. But as William G. Hyland Jr. demonstrates, this “fact” is nothing more than the accumulation of salacious rumors and irresponsible scholarship, as well as the trend of historical revisionism that seeks to drag the reputation of the Founding Fathers through the mud. In this startling and revelatory argument, Hyland proves that Jefferson is innocent of the charge of having sexual relations with Hemings.

Hyland presents the most reliable historical evidence while dissecting the unreliable, and in doing so he cuts through centuries of unsubstantiated charges. After making a compelling new argument about the DNA evidence of Hemings' youngest child, Hyland traces the evolution of the rumor about Thomas Jefferson back to the politically motivated person who made it. Hyland also delves into Hemings family oral histories, as well as the ways in which the Jefferson rumors were advanced by flawed scholarly research often shaped by political agendas.

Definitively putting to rest the allegation of the liaison between Jefferson and Hemings, Hyland reclaims the nation’s third president from the arena of Hollywood-style myth and melodrama and gives his readers a unique opportunity to serve as jurors on this fascinating episode in American history.

“Historically important.” —Peter Rodman,author of Presidential Command: Power, Leadership, and the Making of Foreign Policy from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush