Which presidents were the brightest bulbs in the candelabra of the presidency?
Hoover was a latin scholar and so was his wife, and together they translated de Res Metallica (not the heavy metal song sheet) from Latin. It was a book written in Latin in 1450 by Georgius Agricola about the science of mining engineering of the times. Hoover was a mining engineer. (The techniques outlined in the book, though antique, are still surprisingly applicable to many of today's mining problems. One of which is getting the money to do it.)
Jefferson had to be the most polymathic president. He knew just about every region of the colonies and what each produced and its environment intimately. He ran the country on NO TAXES. (readmylips.) Well he charged excise but that was sufficient. A lot of people would say at that juncture that they had a lot less to do. I would say that is naive. They had a strong Navy, Army and Airforce. (OK, if you don't believe me read about the Montgolfier brothers.) There was no want in the country. (compare that to today.) Full employment, free land. Roads, bridges, newspapers, schools, hospitals etc.. Relative to the technical achievments of the age, they were at the forefront. With NO TAXES. Amazing. And gold was at an all time low price in today's dollars. In other words, inflation was low.
What are we doing wrong today? do we need all these taxes? Have we become dependent on them? Is it economic dope? Could we fire 80% of the civil service and do without? Would we miss all that government? I think we would at first. But after 5 years, it would be like they were never there.
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