The Simple Life and Its Transformation

President John Adams arrived in the newly formed Washington, D.C., before there was anything to be seen. Marshy fields, ruts, puddles, and anything but the beautifully lined streets we know today. He was not one to praise the new capital city, and truly wanted nothing to do with it. The gloomy feel of the new presidential palace was far from the proper accommodations required to preside over a country as new and flourishing as the United States. Adams felt the house was far to palatial, and it would be a better fit to have a quaint home to reside.

Along with Adams, Jefferson agreed that there needed to be a more intimate setting to house the president and his family. Neither of these presidents were concerned with the upkeep of the interior of the home, considering there was not enough money for it during Adams' presidency. Jefferson did not take up the entire home, just a single corner of the still unfinished White House.

Jefferson decided to change the way the president was viewed. He changed the portrait style from frilly dress shirts and white powdered wigs to plain clothes and almost natural hair. He wanted to be known more as the average man than as the war hero, as Washington was always known.

One thing that still remained to be unseen at the White House, beside its completion, was a garden. The first four presidents all recognized themselves as avid gardeners, yet not one of them attempted to plant a single tree or shrub on or around the White House. Jefferson, however, straying from the pack, decided to have his own garden for relaxation INSIDE the White House (Although this was his form of therapy, I still do not understand why he did not garden outside so others could see it.).

Once Jefferson left the White House and went back to Monticello, he decided against living there permanently because of his fear of constant tourists (He thought right!). Instead he built a house and garden exactly like he'd envisioned the White House to look. He built the Poplar Forest. Jefferson planted every item he planned for his Washington residency into his perfect home.

Never the less, Jefferson still remains as one of the most beloved presidents, even though he did not help in any way to further the beauty of the nation's capital.