Framing a Legend by Holowchak Mark

Author:Holowchak, Mark
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publisher Services
Published: 2013-03-11T16:00:00+00:00

DOCTOR'S ORDERS

As we have seen in the previous chapter, in The Inner Jefferson, Andrew Burstein's picture of Jefferson is that of a morally focused person whose devotion to his family and friends is unwavering and incontestable. He judges himself and others by temper. Inner softness, introspection, sympathy with the sentiments of others, and nobility of taste characterize Jefferson's normative ideals.31

In his first book, Burstein spends little time on the Sally Hemings scandal. He briefly weighs the testimonies on behalf of Jefferson against that of Madison Hemings and comes down, though not securely, on the side of Jefferson on account of his character. What tilts the balance in favor of Jefferson is that Madison and Eston Hemings were born after Callender's accusation, and Burstein finds it implausible that Jefferson would have been smug enough to continue a sexual relationship once it was publicly disclosed in 1802. That said, it is highly improbable, he thinks, that Jefferson fathered any of Hemings's children.

In the PBS interview of him after publication of The Inner Jefferson, Burstein's admiration for Jefferson is evident, as he talks in a profoundly moving way about Jefferson's reaction to the loss of his wife:

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