The office of citizen (Spurious Quotation)

Quotation: [fragment] "office of citizen," or sometimes "assume the office of citizen."

Sources consulted:

1. Founders Online
2. Thomas Jefferson retirement papers
3. Google Books
4. Access Newspaper Archive

Earliest appearance in print, attributed to Thomas Jefferson: National Council for the Social Studies, Expectations of Excellence: Curriculum Standards for Social Studies (Washington, DC: National Council for the Social Studies, 1994), 3.

Comments: The phrase "office of citizen" or "assume the office of citizen" has been attributed to Thomas Jefferson, it has not been found in any of his writings.  It may be related to a quotation attributed to Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, "In a democracy, the highest office is the office of citizen."^[1]

- Anna Berkes, 5/20/08; updated 11/20/15

Further Sources

• Look for further sources on Jefferson and citizenship in the Thomas Jefferson Portal.