The greatest benefit Jefferson brought to Americans during his tenure was that the French bought Louisiana. While Napoleon was in urgent need of money to beat the British, Jefferson accurately seized this opportunity, took the initiative, negotiated several times, slashed the price, and finally bought a large piece of land from the Mississippi River to the Loki Mountains at a price of 3 cents per mu, that is, Louisiana. The deal immediately doubled the size of the United States at that time. Later, it proved that this large piece of land that Jefferson bought in those years was fertile land for geomantic omen. More than 60 years later, the Americans followed suit and bought Alaska, which was more than1500,000 square kilometers, from the Russians for only $7 million. These two deals have brought super profits to the United States, and they still make Americans laugh themselves to sleep.
Jefferson was re-elected as president for two terms, with a term of eight years. After leaving office, he returned to his hometown of Monticello, Virginia, and lived in a house he designed. When Jefferson was president, his annual salary was $25,000, and the restrictions on public funds were very strict. On many occasions, he had to pay for entertainment. In addition, his task of supporting his family is very heavy-his family and relatives and servants number hundreds, so eight years after he left office as president, he owed about $50,000. At that time, the president of the United States retired without a pension. Jefferson, who was over sixty years old, had to run his own farm and workshop desperately in order to pay off his debts. But always pay off old debts and owe new debts, and always the new debts roll more than the old debts. Running around to pay off debts often made Jefferson feel at a loss. His eldest daughter Ma Xia said in a letter to him, "I can stand anything, but I don't want to see you worry about debt at your age." When the Library of Congress was burned down, he sold his life's books to Congress at a low price and earned more than 20,000 dollars, all of which were used to pay off debts.
In the case that he was too poor to protect himself, he also devoted considerable time and energy to lobbying and establishing the University of Virginia, which was a major event he planned to do after retirement.
Jefferson, who was heavily in debt, finally fell ill in poverty. He realized that he was really old, and it seemed that he had to consider auctioning off his property to pay off his debts. The news came out and shocked the whole country. People donated a sum of money for him, more than 16 thousand dollars, but this is far from solving his debt problem.
Jefferson was very ill at the age of 83. He received an invitation from Congress to attend the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th (also the National Day of the United States). Holding the invitation, he was filled with emotion and tears. How much he wants to attend! However, as the days passed, his condition did not improve at all. It was not until June 24th, ten days before the anniversary, that he wrote his last personal letter with regret-he resigned due to illness. After waking up in a coma several times, he asked the people around him, "Is that the day?" (July 4) 1826 At noon on July 4, just as the national activities to commemorate the Declaration of Independence reached its climax, her drafter Jefferson closed his eyes at home, leaving a debt and died.
He wrote for his tombstone: "Thomas Jefferson, the drafter of the Declaration of Independence, the maker of the Virginia Religious Freedom Act, and the founder of the University of Virginia are buried here."