In the late spring of 1803, a fledgling United States stood at a precipice. The country was new, fragile in identity, uncertain in future.

It had survived its revolution, created a government and found a purpose, but the world outside its borders was big and mostly unfamiliar.

And at the center of this uncertainty resided Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. A man of contradictions. A philosopher who wielded power with precision.

A leader who believed in limited government yet made the boldest expansionist move in American history. It was no foregone conclusion that Jefferson would become president. He was a scholar, not a warrior.