Editor, Gazette-Journal:

As to the anti-Jefferson screed appearing in the letters to the editor of the Oct. 22 edition of this paper (“Some thoughts on Jefferson,” Readers Write), I would like to defer to the words and wisdom of former President John F. Kennedy, given during a dinner party at the White House honoring the Nobel Prize winners of the Western Hemisphere:

“I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent of human knowledge that has ever been gathered at the White House, with the possible exception of when Jefferson dined alone.”

To those who demean the culture of our founding, I would offer the following quote attributed to Frank Outlaw, a businessman of the 1960s:

“Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

It is interesting to note that the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Dumas...