President. On his tombstone, he described himself as author of the Declaration of Independence, of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, and founder of the University of Virginia. He was also a founding father of the U.S., a political philosopher, and a champion of human rights. Critics have said that he was ambitious and opportunistic as a politician, inconsistent (opposing debt while running up vast personal debts, opposing slavery but keeping slaves, etc.), and something of a sybarite, unable to stop importing fine European wines and goods even at the cost of impoverishing his daughters.