DEAD PRESIDENTS SOCIETY

I found Brian Richard Boylan’s Feb. 2 review of Gordon S. Wood’s book, “The Radicalism of the American Revolution,” almost supernatural. Let me quote from the review:

(1) “Thomas Jefferson, for instance, was deeply disillusioned by the failure of the American people to appreciate and follow the enlightened government and society he had given so much to bring to power. He could only shake his head when the violently passionate Andrew Jackson became President.”

(2) “He was horrified, for instance, that Jackson would throw open the doors of the White House and invite all and sundry to stop in for a drink with the new chief executive.”

Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, more than two years before Andrew Jackson was elected President, and almost three years before Jackson took office. I believe Andrew Jackson should have been the one to be horrified, when he learned that Jefferson was shaking his head and making those statements from the grave.

Talk about ghost stories!

THOMAS R. TEFFT, Professor of History, Citrus College, GLENDORA