--- In NavWarGames@yahoogroups.com, kstoddard@... wrote:

> Men much more deserving of the honor would be Thomas
> Jefferson,

Sorry, but once again a failure to appreciate some of the ironies of
naval history.

Thomas Jefferson was the father of the idea of the all-gunboat navy,
since the only reason we would need a navy was to defend our shores.
The Barbary pirates changed his mind.

Thomas Jefferson was ALSO the president who managed to get fired 90%
of the officers of the US Navy who were not members of his political
party.

Funny how popular political history obscures these unsavory facts -
they focus of course on the tremendously inspiring and important role
of Jefferson in the founding of the country. But a good case could
be made that he was an enemy of the Navy, at least at certain points
in his career.