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Have we gotten the principles of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution all wrong? Kermit Roosevelt, constitutional law professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s law school, and great-great-grandson of Theodore Roosevelt challenges the conventional view that these hallowed documents established our core values and tell us who we are.
Rather than a steady realization of principles established during the nation’s founding, he argues, the story of America is one of repeated failure and reinvention. He explains why our America was not born with the Revolution, why we cannot trace our ideals back to the Founders, and how we have rejected the central ideal of the Declaration—and yet why the Constitution remains a vehicle for the advancement and articulation of American ideals.
