The Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson
By Subject
NEPOTISM
The resolution you so properly approved had long been formed in my
mind. The public will never be made to believe that an appointment of
a relative is made on the ground of merit alone, uninfluenced by
family views; nor can they ever see with approbation offices, the
disposal of which they entrust to their Presidents for public
purposes, divided out as family property. Mr. Adams degraded himself
infinitely by his conduct on this subject, as General Washington had
done himself the greatest honor. With two such examples to proceed by,
I should be doubly inexcusable to err. It is true that this places the
relations of the President in a worse situation than if he were a
stranger, but the public good, which cannot be affected if its
confidence be lost, requires this sacrifice.
to George Jefferson, 27 March 1801
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