In addition to his authorship of Declaration of Independence and serving as the President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson served as governor of Virginia during much of the Revolutionary War. Hamilton, the musical, indicated that Jefferson was “off getting high with the French,” during the Revolution and nothing could be further from the truth.

Jefferson’s time as Governor of Virginia was exceptionally challenging. He will serve from 1779-1781 as the second governor of Revolutionary Virginia. He will spend most of his time of August 9, 1780 corresponding with various figures about the war effort in Virginia, including General Washington. During June of 1781, he will flee Monticello when the British try to capture him, causing his political opponents to accuse him of cowardice. Jefferson was relieved to leave the role of governor after two terms, only to lose his wife the next year, 1782, and sink into a deep depression. His colleagues encourage him to take the job as ambassador to France in 1785 to replace Ben Franklin, and serve from 1785 until 1789, after the American Revolution is over the the Treaty of Paris ended the conflict officially.

Pictured: My favorite Thomas Jefferson impersonator, Bill Barker, at Monticello in 2024!