Send a Quote Enter a brief message. SendOk2 “I own I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.” ~ Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), US Founding Father, drafted the Declaration of Independence, 3rd US PresidentSource: Letter to James Madison, Paris, December 20, 1787. THE POLITICAL WRITINGS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 67-68 (Dumbauld Ed. 1955)