On March 4, 1801, Thomas Jefferson gave his first inaugural address as president of the United States of America. He was the third person to hold the office. His nation was young, a shadow of the sprawling republic it is today just decades after victory in its Revolutionary War with Britain. Jefferson sought to allay local fears speaking of political freedoms, states’ rights, the value of minorities, and of a professional military as the avenue towards international peace: “A well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace and for the first moments of war till regulars may relieve them.” Yet, it was his other message to the world that is most remembered, and with good reason. Succinct and direct, it also resonates in Australia now.…