Thomas Jefferson

9x12 inches, 2007, class: Advanced Illustration
Thomas Jefferson came from an influential Virginian family, and was something of a Renaissance man of the Enlightenment age, avidly studying anything and everything. After graduating with highest honors from The College of William and Mary with a degree in law, he became rather famous as a lawyer. He was sent to the Second Continental Congress as a last-minute substitute for Virginia's original representative, and once there, was given the task of writing the Declaration of Independence. Later, he also drafted most of the US Constitution.
He served as Secretary of State under Washington. Losing the second presidential election made him automatic vice president, but he spent little time with Congress while in that office.
Finally, Jefferson became the third president, after Alexander Hamilton convinced the Federalists that Jefferson was still better than the next contender, New York's Aaron Burr. Burr became vice president, but there was always tension between him and Jefferson. When Burr killed Hamilton in a duel, it was the last straw, and Jefferson promptly fired him.
After leaving the presidency, T.J. founded the University of Virginia...notable for being an educational institution entirely separate from any religious institution, revolving around a library, rather than a church. (Edgar Allen Poe studied there, and was among many students also invited to Jefferson's home.) He died on the fiftieth anniversary of the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, and his things were sold at auction to cover his debts.

T.J. had a lisp and hated public speaking. He didn't much care for formality at all, and even his state dinners were decidedly casual. His interests were many, including a talent for the violin, great contributions to archeology and paleontology, and architecture. He designed his house of Monticello, and it stands today as a proud national landmark as much for its design as for its history. He loved wine, and was a gourmet...and very skinny. (Well, he did wrack up a lot of debt.)
Jefferson's ideas and ideals were, in general, extremely influential--known as Jeffersonian Democracy. Today, though, most people know him mostly for the Sally Hemings controversy.