DEAD PRESIDENTS SOCIETY

Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, hardly an obscure fact since the symmetry of his death and that of John Adams on the same day, exactly 50 years after the publication of the Declaration of Independence, has been widely noted.

(Further), I wonder if either the author or the reviewer understand the meaning of the term revolution as it was used prior to the French Revolution, when it meant a revolving of governments rather than an overturning of the old order. The latter meaning has come to us as a result of the French and later Russian revolutions. . . .

This kind of nonsense perpetuates error and damages understanding. CATHERINE G. BURKE, Associate Professor, School of Public Administration, USC, LOS ANGELES