The performance of domesticity is a major theme of my book and the main means by which Martha helped construct her father's public image as a virtuous republican family man while he was alive. Martha visited Washington twice during Jefferson's presidency. Her presence, and that of her children, helped Jefferson to present himself to the public as a family man at the very time when his political enemies were spreading the scandal about him and Sally Hemings. Continue Reading Interview: Cynthia Kierner on the Life of Martha Jefferson Randolph