Third President and Founding Father Thomas Jefferson is born in Shadwell, Virginia. The son of a successful planter, Jefferson distinguished himself as the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, which was signed by the Second Continental Congress in 1776. He later governed the Commonwealth of Virginia, served as George Washington's first Secretary of State, and led the Democratic-Republican Party, first as Vice President under President John Adams, then later as President from 1801 to 1809.
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