George Washington

August 6, 2019|Alexis de Tocqueville, American Legion v. American Humanist Association, George Washington, majority tyranny, Religion, Supreme Court

Defending Religion as a Public Good

by Carson Holloway|12 Comments

Detail image of the Bladensburg Memorial Cross in Bladensburg, Maryland (Glynnis Jones / Shutterstock.com).

A responsible political leader might act to promote religion for secular reasons, on the understanding that religion is necessary to a healthy democracy.

July 3, 2019|Benedict Arnold, George Washington, Joyce Lee Malcolm, treason

Becoming America’s Greatest Villain

by Craig Bruce Smith|2 Comments

Hart, Thomas, "Colonel Arnold: who commanded the Provincial Troops sent against Quebec, through the wilderness of Canada and was wounded in that city, under General Montgomery " (1776). Prints, Drawings and Watercolors from the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.

Malcolm presents Benedict Arnold as deeply conflicted, but concludes that his turn was ideological, and rooted in his wounded sense of honor.

July 3, 2019|Declaration of Independence, George Washington, Harry Jaffa, Harvey Mansfield, Leo Strauss, Thomas Jefferson

Why Did Harry Jaffa Change His Mind?

by David Tucker|10 Comments

The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. (Adam Parent/Shutterstock.com).

To preserve both the country and political philosophy, Jaffa returned to the beginning.

July 1, 2019|Alexander Hamilton, Commerce, Constitution, Federalist, George Washington, Republicanism

How America Reconciled Patriotism and Free Markets

by Samuel Gregg|8 Comments

The Preamble to the U.S. Constitution (David Smart/Shutterstock.com).

Patriotism and economic liberty are not mutually exclusive. Commercial republicanism can unite them.

June 14, 2019|Antonin Scalia, George Washington, James Madison, John Adams, Joseph Ellis, Robert Bork, Second Amendment, Thomas Jefferson

Joseph Ellis’s American Monologue

by Brian A. Smith|28 Comments

Junius Brutus Stearns, "Washington as Statesman at the Constitutional Convention," 1856 (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts).

In Joseph Ellis’ view, it’s just fine for us to love the Founders, but not for anyone to understand them in ways that might derail the march of progress.

February 26, 2019|Civic Virtue, Congress, George Washington, Separation of Powers, Supreme Court

The Supreme Court Will Not Save Us

by Corbin Barthold|17 Comments

Statue of George Washington at Federal Hall, New York, New York (Becca Eley / Shutterstock.com).

We, however, are determined to learn whether responsible and disciplined—in a word, constitutional—government can survive the death of civic piety.

February 4, 2019|Alexander Hamilton, American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, honor

Honor, Sacred and Profane

by Lynn Uzzell|Leave a Comment

Craig Bruce Smith shows that honor was a vitally important concept for the development of the American nation.

December 17, 2018|Abraham Lincoln, Civil Religion, Cold War, Foreign Policy, George Washington, Iraq War, Progressivism, The Tragedy of U.S. Foreign Policy, Theodore Roosevelt

American Heresies and the Betrayal of the National Interest: A Conversation with Walter McDougall

by Walter A. McDougall|1 Comment

Walter McDougall discusses how America's civil religion has shaped our foreign policy.

November 15, 2018|Cohens vs. Virginia, Dartmouth College vs. Woodward, Fletcher vs. Peck, George Washington, John Marshall, Marbury vs. Madison

The John Marshall Legacy: A Conversation with Richard Brookhiser

by Richard Brookhiser|3 Comments

Richard Brookhiser discusses the life and jurisprudence of John Marshall.

September 14, 2018|Abortion, Brett Kavanaugh, Equality, George Washington, John Adams, Peter Singer, Roe v. Wade, Thomas Jefferson

Don’t Settle for Roe

by Richard Samuelson|25 Comments

Image: Coffeemill/Shutterstock.com

If Roe v. Wade is overturned, we will have to go back to the messy compromises of politics, which might actually avert a new disunion.

Preaching the American Gospel

by Glenn A. Moots

The author demonstrates the consequences of progressive social thought for mainline Protestantism: ecumenical denominations faded evangelicals flourished.

European Law and the “Myth of English Exceptionalism”

by Michael I. Krauss

A primer on the intertwined history of civil codes and the common law.

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