Martha Washington’s worst memory was the death of her husband. Her second worst was Thomas Jefferson’s awkward visit to pay his respects subsequently. Indeed, by the time George Washington had died in 1799, the two founders were estranged. But that estrangement has obscured the fact that for most of their thirty-year acquaintance they enjoyed a productive relationship. Precisely because they shared so much, their disagreements have something important to teach us.

Francis D. Cogliano is the author of Emperor of Liberty: Thomas Jefferson's Foreign Policy. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and cohost of the American history podcast The Whiskey Rebellion. He is Professor of American History at the University of Edinburgh, and Acting Director of the International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello.

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