“The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information. Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.”

— Thomas Jefferson, 1816

Like most politicians of all eras, our 3rd President had a stormy relationship with the press, and there were, in fact, times shortly after the country’s founding where he had some very unflattering things to say about it. But rising above that, and enduring far beyond, most what of he had to say about the press was that it was necessary for the survival of our nation.