Directed by James Ivory, Jefferson in Paris chronicles the years (1784-1789) that Thomas Jefferson spends as the American ambassador to France. These are significant years for him in his public and personal life, also fateful ones for France, where the Revolution is about to break out. Jefferson is 41 years old when he arrives from Virginia, accompanied by his elder daughter, Patsy, and slave James Hemings. His wife, Martha, died two years earlier, and six years before that he drafted and signed the Declaration of Independence. Three principle storylines develop throughout the movie. The first plot relates to Jefferson's affiliation with painter Maria Cosway, the second follows changes in Jefferson's relationship with his youngest daughter's slave, fifteen-year old Sally Hemings, and the last is an observation of how Jefferson reacts to the political events leading up to the French Revolution.
Maria Cosway, a married British-Italian socialite, is attracted to Jefferson. He lives the life of a man in love about town flirting with Maria. However, once she declares her love for him, he draws away from her; Jefferson promised his wife on her deathbed that he would never marry another woman. While he was still exchanging letters and romantic emotions with Maria Cosway, he was forming another relationship. When one of his daughters dies in Virginia Jefferson sends for his youngest, Polly, to join him. Polly's slave, Sally Hemings, accompanies her. Sally is the sister of James (who is already in Paris learning French cuisine); the siblings were among the slaves whom Jefferson inherited from his father-in-law who fathered them by one of his mixed (mulatto) slaves. Sally was thus Martha's half-sister. The facts that she resembled Martha and reminded Jefferson of his home play roles in his attraction to her. Jefferson was homesick so when President George Washington offers him the post of Secretary of State, Jefferson accepts and prepares to sail home with his family.