Thomas Jefferson was a student of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, with its emphasis on human reason and science and the rejection of outmoded traditions and social structures. At the foundation of his political philosophy was his admiration for the yeoman farmer and a distrust of financiers and big-city interests. He favored a limited federal government, strong states’ rights, and the strict separation of church and state. After serving in a variety of roles, from framer of American independence to governor of Virginia, member of the Continental Congress, minister to France, secretary of state, vice president, and president, Jefferson won a landslide reelection in 1804. In his first term as U.S. president, Jefferson had ordered the U.S. Navy into the Mediterranean to secure merchant shipping from piracy. Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory to much fanfare, but his attempt to purchase Florida failed, damaging his political reputation. Jefferson launched geographical and scientific expeditions that increased knowledge of the lands to the west, and he implemented a “civilizing program” directed at assimilating Native Americans. Jefferson also trimmed the national debt by eliminating political offices and ineffective taxes. Jefferson demonstrated his commitment to education through support of the Library of Congress and the establishment of the United States Military Academy at West Point.