Publisher's Synopsis
Merchant Ivory's acccount of the time American stateman Thomas Jefferson spent in Paris. Sent to France as the ambassador for his own still-youthful country, Jefferson (Nick Nolte) soon finds himself torn between his desires for worldly socialite Maria Cosway (Greta Scacchi) and household slave Sally (Thandie Newton). As social unrest grows around them, Jefferson is forced to make one of the most difficult decisions of his life.
