Thomas Jefferson had formerly worked as America's second vice president with John Adams and as the country's first Secretary of State under George Washington. Jefferson was a supporter of liberty, constitutionalism, and personal liberty, inspiring the American people to secede from the Kingdom of Great Britain and create a new country; he created crucial papers and choices at both the national and state levels.

Jefferson supported Virginia in the Continental Congress that produced the Declaration of Independence during the American Revolution. As a Virginia politician, he developed freedom of religion bill. He was indeed the 2nd Governor of Virginia during the American Revolutionary War, acting from 1779 till 1781. In 1785, Jefferson was selected as the U. S. Minister to France, and from 1790 to 1793, he served as the country's first Secretary of State under President George Washington. Jefferson and James Madison created the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose the Federalist Party during the establishment of the First Party System. In 1798 and 1799, he and Madison collaborated on the controversial Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which aimed to protect states' sovereignty by repealing the national Alien and Sedition Acts.

Jefferson was a longstanding acquaintance of John Adams, with whom he served in the Continental Congress and co-wrote the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson's standing as a Democratic-Republican, on the other hand, would end up making Adams, a Federalist, his electoral opponent. In the 1796 presidential campaign among Jefferson and Adams, Jefferson finished second, which mistakenly voted him as Adams' vice president according to the electoral method of the time. Jefferson will subsequently oppose Adams again and run for president in 1800. Jefferson and Adams finally reconciled once Jefferson's administration ended, and they corresponded for 14 years.