Thomas Jefferson - Not the Separationist We Hear About Today

Thomas Jefferson's seemingly innocent metaphor "separation of church and state" has been used many times to justify keeping government from doing virtually anything regarding religion. This has been addressed elsewhere on this site, but consider another example:

When Washington D. C. became the national capital in 1800, Congress voted that the Capitol building would also serve as a church building. President Jefferson chose to attend church each Sunday at the Capitol and even provided the service with paid government musicians to assist in its worship. Jefferson also began similar Christian services in his own Executive Branch, both at the Treasury Building and at the War Office.