Thomas Jefferson

“Never did prisoner, released from his chains, feel such relief as I shall on shaking off the shackles of power … nature intended me for the tranquill pursuits of science, by rendering them my supreme delight. But the enormities of the times in which I have lived, have forced me to take a part in resisting them, and to commit myself on the boisterous ocean of political passions. I thank god for the opportunity of retiring from them without censure, and carrying with me the most consoling proofs of public approbation.”

-- President Thomas Jefferson (1809)

And he then leaves Washington and public life for good.

[Source: Sean Wilentz, “The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln”]