To mark the two-hundredth anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's inauguration into the presidency, Noble E. Cunningham, Jr., presents The Inaugural Addresses of President Thomas Jefferson, 1801 and 1805. Of all the addresses delivered by presidents of the United States at their inaugurations, few have been as memorable as those given by Thomas Jefferson. In addition to providing the texts of President Jefferson's first and second presidential inaugural addresses, delivered on March 4, 1801, and March 4, 1805, this volume explores their dissemination and impact worldwide.

While President Jefferson's addresses are well known, the extent to which they were published and distributed, and the responses to them by both individuals and governments, has not previously been considered. In a world where the new republican government of the United States represented a major departure from the dominant monarchical governments of Europe, the recognition given to Jefferson's inaugural addresses in Europe and elsewhere is of considerable significance. His addresses were widely published in newspapers and journals not only in the United States and Canada, but also in Great Britain, France, Italy, and other European states, as well as later republished in South America.

The Inaugural Addresses of President Thomas Jefferson, 1801 and 1805 provides evidence of the massive extent to which Jefferson's addresses have been translated and reprinted, attesting to his international stature as an early spokesman for democratic principles.