Jeffersons monticello in charlottesville, virginia. Thomas jefferson well, good afternoon, my friends, my fellow citizens. What a pleasure to greet you once more here on our mountain here at monticello. And what a pleasure to be out of doors here amongst the wonders of nature, particularly that we can stand together underneath this live oak, one of my Favorite Places next to the fishpond, to welcome the bloom of the snowball that is the viburnum behind me. There, the beautiful purple iris and of course the pansies, and the digitalis, the foxglove about to bloom. So, what a pleasant occasion, and particularly to welcome our friend, mr. Steve light, to be with us again, to welcome your questions forward. So, without any further comment, as i have a few moments before i continue my walk through the garden, and i think gardens is a most pleasant subject to attend to today, i ask for the first question, mr. Light, if you will. Yes, thank you, president jefferson. We do have a number of questions for you today relating to the theme of gardening. The first question is, have you always loved gardening . Thomas jefferson oh, you asked me if i have always loved gardening . Well, i assure you that you cannot be born out here in the wilderness and the forest primeval without an early, an early love of all of natures wonders, the great abundance that our creator has provided us, and to realize that we merely have to cut out what pleases us and to plant accordingly. Do you know, i served 40 years in public service, and yet i have often thought, if heaven had given me a position, to my great delight, it would have been upon a small spot of ground, wellwatered, and near a good market for the produce. Gardening is one of my greatest delights, and the cultivation of the soil i think the most noble vocation of man. Your next question, mr. Light. We have been told that you keep some pretty detailed records about your gardening adventures. Thomas jefferson so, you know about some of my jottings. Yes, i do have a number of journals and diaries and a garden book, a farm book, my weather accounts, and the account of rainfall. I was looking at some of them the other day, and i had realized i commenced these jottings when i was only 23 years of age. I was not yet living here on our little mountain. I was living at shadwell, about 2. 5 miles to the northeast. And then in 1766, i first recorded at the end of march the bloom, if you will, of the purple hyacinth. And but a short time later, the first few weeks of april, and near to my birthday, the bloom of the narcissus. Okun. Remember, that is what we used to call the blood root. Okun. I continued to do so, and i continued to take the observations of the weather to provide for the temperature at least three times a day. I take the temperature first at the coolest time of day, that is just before sunrise. Then i take the temperature at the meridian, at the suns height during the day. And then usually at the warmest time of the day. Now, of late, that has become arguable. Some consider it 3 00, others consider 4 00. I asked them why and they tell me, well, it is because of daylight savings. I have no idea what they are referring to. But either 3 00 or 4 00 is the warmest time of the day. Now, a few moments ago, i recorded the temperature at 54 degrees on the fahrenheit scale. Early this morning before sunrise, it was 41. So, i shall wait until later in the afternoon to see where the day will lead us. Your next question, mr. Light. We had a question from benjamin asking what your favorite plant was. Thomas jefferson my favorite plant. Oh, well, you asked me, benjamin, something that i do not think i can give an immediate or ready answer. So much of natures wonders are my favorite plants and flowers. I continue to enjoy the hollyhock. I enjoy that snowball bush that you see behind me. The digitalis i think is properly named one of my favorite flowers. The foxglove. I say properly named because it may be used medicinally to slow down rapid heartbeats. You know, benjamin, i wish i had known that during my younger years when i was first courting. [laughter] your next question. We have a question from lynn asking if theres anything you tried to grow at monticello but could not because of the climate. Thomas jefferson you are asking me of my many failures in the garden. I say, yes, many. But know this. I always try to plant an overabundance, a Great Variety of flowers and plants. The reason is because i know there will be a failure. But rest assured, we will always have successes. I am afraid i have failed, if you will, with the pear. I have failed with the plum, almonds, apricots, i have never been successful with olive trees. Then there is wine. I speak of the foreign vines. That has remained a great failure. We need not pursue that any further. Your next question . Stephen well, actually, mr. President , we have people wondering about your attempts to make wine. Mr. Jefferson i need not pursue my attempts of cultivating wine. Now, mr. Light, if you ask me about my efforts, i can assure you this. I continued to cultivate wine. It is the foreign wines that have been the failure. Our native vines, they continue to flourish as they have from time immemorial, and i refer to them as muscat grapes. I was first introduced to wine at the table of one of our former governors in williamsburg. I spent five delightful years in france. My first attempt began when i met an italian nobleman, and i write it phonetical. Matsay. He had come to the colony of virginia. There was an introduction from dr. Benjamin franklin. He was accompanied by ten of his countrymen. They referred to themselves as the wine company to sell shares for the cultivation of cabernet and pinot noir. Colonel washington purchased several shares. I went further. I invited a man to come and visit in the realms of albemarle, and as my daughter says, we started out before sunrise, that i might introduce him to the terrain, and by the time we returned near sunset, she said that the two of us had great smiles upon our face and a sense of jocularity. She was certain that a deal had been made, and it was. About 150 acres nearby, which he proceeded to name, which in italian means small hill, rather quaint, next to monticello, small mountain, and that is where he began to cultivate the foreign vines, but, unfortunately, my fellow citizens, they never rooted properly. There appears to be something in the soil here that prohibits their rooting, and that is a lament, because i think the composition of our soil, the climate, the altitude, the precipitation is just as good as anything you can find throughout the kingdoms of europe to cultivate this fine wine. But, unfortunately, until one wine becomes a necessity in our nation, i doubt it will be successful. Here in virginia, the efforts for productivity and cultivation must be put to three cash crops, you know what they are, tobacco, tobacco, tobacco, in that order, so until we relieve ourselves from that, i doubt we will be successful in viniculture. Stephen what plants did lewis and clark bring back during their great expedition . Mr. Jefferson oh, my. Angela, i gave instructions to ofm to record the confluence waterways into great missouri, not only to be attended with the many natives that we had not known of before, but also to making jottings of the composition of the soil, the degree of climate, and the flora and fauna that they encountered. They encountered over 150 variety of flora, over 175 varieties of animal life, as well. I delighted in receiving the cornflower, which i sent to bernard mcmahon, a horticulturalist in germantown, pennsylvania, nearby the city of philadelphia. He almost immediately put it to sale. I also received wild salsify. I enjoy it from out west. Sweet, scented cranberries that were sent and also, as well, a flower that, if you will, i sent out to a man who quickly referred to it as a name on behalf of my good friend and cocommander of that expedition, lieutenant william clark, so these are but a few of the many, many plants. Now, mind you, lewis and clark also sent me many, many dried plants that they had sewn into pages of books, and i immediately sent those plants and seeds to a professor of horticulture and botany at the university of pennsylvania. Captain lewis had studied with him before he embarked on that expedition, and so it was that those plants became most useful for further study. I have always believed that botany is foremost among the sciences. Your next question, mr. Light . Stephen well, mr. Jefferson, it is quite clear you have extensive gardens here, and brody asks how many plants you have in the garden. Mr. Jefferson how many plants do i have in the garden . I would reckon to say if youre speaking of flowers, upwards of 330 varieties. Of vegetables, much near the same. My vegetables i cultivate along a 1000 foot garden divided into 24 sections in which i cultivate various vegetables, so to state them precisely, i daresay we would be here at the same spot through next week. Next question. Stephen with such extensive flower and vegetable gardens, who maintains and creates the gardens here . Mr. Jefferson you asked me who maintains all of this beauty that surrounds us. I know distinctly and properly. My people, the enslaved. All of what you see could not have been accomplished without their attentions, without their aid, without their artistry. I may have come up with some ideas, and many of them, of course, came to mind when i was in france and went through england and visited gardens, but no, to be able to plant them and manifest them has been accomplished by such as gardner john, veteran aides such as George Granger the elder, and his son, George Granger, the younger, and wormley hughes. George granger came to me when i was younger. Tourchased him that he might my wifes liking provide a family to part of my wifes property, and so it was the children had several who became artisans, and Isaac Granger became a tinsmith here. They were of great help for the longest time, a good 25 years in preparing our gardens at monticello, but lamentedly, george, his wife, ursula, and his son george, all three passed away in 1799. I refer to the grandson of elizabeth hemings. He was born just before the british came to capture me here at monticello. Wormley grew up to marry ursula granger, a granddaughter of the grangers i just referred to, and it was the grangers and, as well, the hughes that provided not only my gardens here but the vegetable gardens below, and mr. Hughes came up to Washington City along with his wife ursula. Ursula was a cook at the president s house, and it was there that they began their family. Did you know that they had 13 children . And the very first of their children, a young boy, was born in the president s house during my first administration, the first child born in the president s house was a hughes, wormley and ursulas child. Ley hughes. On worme i do not know what i would do without them. Your next question. Stephen we have a question from sarah asking if you brought seeds back from europe. Mr. Jefferson did i bring seeds back from europe . I certainly did. I brought many seeds i thought would be useful here, especially of the seed kale. I became acquainted with it along the shores of the ocean in great britain. It is the most tasty leaf and vegetable, likened unto the asparagus. I brought seeds back that i could send to mr. Bernard mcmahon, and a horticulturalist in new york, and as well to be distributed to the Agricultural Society in South Carolina. I think of one particular seed, and that is the rice. I became very familiar with the desire of the Agricultural Society in South Carolina to acquiring an upland rice. They had heard about this as being a great product of the dutch in milan, and so during my five years as minister to france, i found an opportunity to venture into the italys. I went down to the riviera, south of france. I traveled across and then took three days to travel across the alps. I came down and traveled up to finally milan, and there i discovered the upland rice that was of interest to South Carolina, the great product of milan. I also understood that contracts for purchase and for further negotiations would be necessary before we could ever procure it. Well, i was not the minister to milan. I was ambassador to france. And so i realized a necessity to satisfy South Carolina that i would have to resort to walking into the rice fields and grabbing handfuls of that upland rice and then sewing it up into my coattails, and so i left milan, went to genoa and south to france and finally sent that rice to South Carolina. If i had been found for smuggling that rice, the sentence would have been death by hanging. I apologize for sharing that story with you, but i will go to any end to satisfy our country with a new plant. I think it is the most important thing anyone can do for their nation is to introduce a new plant. Your next question, mr. Light. Stephen we had a question about things you like to eat. In fact, we had a question about whether or not it was all vegetables on your plate and other questions asking if you like tomatoes. Would you care to comment . Mr. Jefferson you ask me amongst all things in the gardens, what are my favorite vegetables, what do i delight to provide at the table, whether i am fond of tomatoes. I would like to say i am very much in favor of fruits and roots and leaves. Of the fruits, i do consider the beans, and yes, i enjoy the tomatoes to be prepared. That is actually a course that i serve at the table at monticello. I understand it is called a salad course. When i was growing up, we knew nothing of a salad course. It was in france that i became acquainted with it. I have enjoyed ever since i returned to provide stuffs of the garden and yes, tomatoes are , used extensively. Of the roots, i enjoy carrots and beets, and of the leaves, i enjoy lettuce and cabbages. In fact, i purchased most of my cabbages from the enslaved families on my farms. They enjoy and cultivate it in their own gardens, and i procure it from them for a price. Your next question. Stephen one last question, president jefferson. This one comes from robin, who contestsou ever have about growing vegetables with your neighbors . Mr. Jefferson you ask if i have contests amongst my neighbors as to who might grow vegetable before the other or to introduce one to another, and i can assure you this. It has become wellknown in the vicinity of charlottesville that one nearby and i have contests as to who may cultivate the first batch of peas. Do you know that they often may rise by the end of february, let alone during the first weeks of march, and whoever is the most successful lets it be known throughout the community that they have the first batch of peas at the table, and everyone is welcome to come and enjoy those peas at that particular home, so he and i over several years have been one the more successful than the other and enjoy a meal. You know, this year, i was happy to see the very first peas rise up at the end of february. This has been the most magnificent spring, and i was about to let it be known until my daughter informed me that george said he had just witnessed the first patch of peas to sprout, and i thought for a moment and decided no, i will not make any statements publicly, because we can rest assured of having a very delicious meal at farmington. Well, i thank you, mr. Light, and i think all of you for this thank all of you for this opportunity. Lamentedly short that we could gather together again here on our mountain. I think i will continue on my walk and look forward to when all of you can accompany me and us all be together. I will tell you this, as i wrote to charles in philadelphia. I continue to grow an older man, but i know i will forever remain a young gardener. What a great pleasure and hope that is, to become better acquainted with the beauty of nature. Until next time we meet, perhaps next week at this same time, i remain your humble and obedient service, thomas jefferson. Godspeed. Memorial day on American History tv. We feature 24 hours of military history from the civil war to vietnam, with roundtable discussions, tors, t yo tours, and interviews. Tonight on American History tv, Duquesne University president teaches a class on constitutional issues that arose during the presidencies of Richard Nixon and gerald ford. Here is a preview. Evidentre was that more than in the dramatic battle for the white house tapes. As you probably know from subpoenaedks, they those tapes to prove or just blue disprove nixons complicity. His white House Counsel said, listen to the tapes. Nixon was talking about paying hush money. Ellie richardson told me he met with nixon multiple times to calm his fears. He said archie cox would just as soon cut off his right arm then do anything improper or politically motivated. Nixon just scowled at him from across the desk, because he assumed political motive in anything. X did not want a constitutional showdown. As to whether he did have the power to subpoena those tapes from the chief executive. Most people do not realize this, but scholars at that time would have put their money on nixon in this battle. Again, he had just won a major reelection victory, and the argument was, why should a spot special prosecutor who is unelected or the courts tell a president what he has to disclose from the inner sanctum of the white house . It was very much an open question at this time. One of you guys asked me last week why didnt nixon just burn the tapes . That is what his speechwriter, pat buchanan, had advocated. It was not so easy. Who would do it . If you burned the tapes, the act itself could be a crime, or an impeachable offense. They remained in a closet in the white house as the watergate drama unfolded. Learn more about the nixon and presidencies at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on American History tv. Historian David Pietrusza describes the 1919 world series fix by members of the Chicago White sox, which came to be known as the black sox scandal. He talks about how book and film portrayals of the fix shape Public Perception of what happened. David pietrusza is the author of two books on the subject. Rothstein the life, times, and murder of the criminal genius who fixed the 1919 world series and judge and jury about baseballs commissioner. Mr. Kent i want to welcome you to cooperstown. I am the director here, david kent. We are very fortunate tonight to have an esteemed historian and awardwinning writer who is not only an historian. He is very into baseba
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