On January 10, 1808, Thomas Jefferson wrote to William Wirt:
“I will not say that public life is the line for making a fortune. But it furnishes a decent and honorable support, and place’s one’s children on good grounds for public favor. The family of a beloved father will stand with the public on the most favorable ground of competition. Had Genl. Washington left children, what would have been denied to them?”
It would be easy to argue that today, the situation is nearly the opposite of what Jefferson described. Many public offices (especially those at the federal level) are often quite lucrative, while the esteem afforded to politicians has declined so much that few people respect their representatives enough to do special things for either them or their children!
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